* The number of people covered by China's basic medical insurance was 1.334 billion at the end of 2023, accounting for over 95 percent of the country's total population, showed an official statistical report unveiled Thursday.
* Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday it had summoned Austria's ambassador in Moscow and declared one Austrian embassy official 'persona non grata'.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Lithuania's capital Vilnius on Thursday to attend a conference and meet with the leaders of several other European countries.
* Switzerland said on Wednesday that it would host a high-level peace conference for Ukraine in mid-June, although Russia has made clear it will not attend.
* The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday passed a law to tighten military mobilization rules, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on his Telegram.
* Uzbekistan will host a joint anti-terror exercise of the Commonwealth of Independence States (CIS) on its territory, Uzbek media reported Thursday.
* Russia and Germany on Thursday urged countries in the Middle East to show restraint and Israel said it was preparing to "meet all its security needs" in a region on edge over an Iranian threat to strike Israel.
* Italy is planning to invite numerous South American and African countries including Argentina, Egypt and Tunisia to the Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit it will host in mid-June, a source close to the matter said.
* The H225M and CH-47F helicopters of the Singapore Air Force have attained full operational capability, according to an announcement issued by Singapore's Ministry of Defense on Thursday.
* Uzbekistan will host a joint anti-terror exercise of the Commonwealth of Independence States (CIS) on its territory, Uzbek media reported Thursday.
* A bipartisan group of senators will introduce a bill to renew the United States' trade pact with sub-Saharan Africa ahead of its expiration next year, an aide to one of the senators said on Thursday.
* The European Parliament approved on Wednesday a new Migration and Asylum Pact that will tighten border procedures and ask the European Union (EU) member states to share responsibility.
* Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) group said on Thursday they are suspending participation in the coming cycle of peace talks with the government, planned for this month, but will attend an extraordinary meeting scheduled for Friday.
* Russia successfully launched the Angara-A5 space rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on Thursday, according to a live broadcast of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos.
* Three sons of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, along with his three grandchildren, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City Wednesday.
* The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and the United Nations are committed to bringing lasting peace to the country.
* At least 33,545 Palestinians have been killed and 76,094 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
* Israel is continuing its war in Gaza but is also preparing for scenarios in other areas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, amid concern that Iran was preparing to strike Israel in response for the killing of senior Iranian commanders.
* Kenya has made a proposal to diffuse tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia over an Ethiopian deal with Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland that would give it port access and enable it to set up a naval base, a top Kenyan official told Reuters.
* At least 13,000 people have been evacuated in parts of Russia as of Thursday, as multiple regions continue to battle extreme floods amid rising water levels, local authorities said.
* More than 98,000 people have been evacuated due to floods in Kazakhstan, the country's emergencies ministry said on Thursday.
* Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said on Thursday that while the U.S. central bank has made considerable progress in lowering inflation, it does not yet need to move to an easier monetary policy setting amid recently uneven movements in price pressures.
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday signaled a more proactive role that the Australian government would play in shaping a "stronger, fairer and more prosperous future" for the country's economy.
* The European parliament on Thursday voted for proposals to make electricity prices less dependent on fossil fuel prices, in a bid to boost renewable energy and shield consumers from price spikes.
* OPEC predicted robust fuel use in the summer months on Thursday and stuck to its forecast for relatively strong growth in global oil demand in 2024, highlighting an unusually large gap between predictions of oil demand strength.
* The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to leave key interest rates unchanged after its regular rate-setting meeting in Frankfurt.
* The Philippine economy is expected to post faster growth this year and next on the back of slowing inflation, stronger and broad-based domestic demand, and higher public investment, according to the latest Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released Thursday.
* Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to grow 2.4 percent this year, up from 1.1 percent in 2023, according to the latest Asian Development Outlook issued by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Thursday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its latest report published Thursday, has projected Sri Lanka's economy to grow by 1.9 percent in 2024 and 2.5 percent in 2025 following two consecutive years of contractions.
* Mongolia's gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow 4.1 percent in 2024, compared to a 7 percent growth in 2023, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Thursday.
