* Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Thursday underscored the importance of advancing cross-border trade facilitation and expanding opening up as part of the country's efforts to develop new institutions for a higher-standard open economy.
* There have not been any economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States, a commerce ministry spokesperson said on Thursday, adding that any claims of progress in economic and trade talks between the two countries are groundless and lack factual basis. Spokesperson He Yadong made the remarks at a regular press briefing when answering a relevant question.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, urging him to lower interest rates.
* The potential deployment of NATO forces to Ukraine is unacceptable, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. According to him, such a move would pose a "critical danger" to all European and global security.
* Talks between a Ukrainian delegation and officials from the United States, France and Germany held in London on Wednesday made "significant progress" toward a common position, said the British foreign office.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian leader's statement on Crimea is "very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia."
* The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that it will shut down the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a foreign aid agency known for funding infrastructure projects in developing countries, according to media reports.
* Sirens blared across Israel Thursday morning as the country came to a standstill during a two-minute silence marking Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day.
* Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday stressed the necessity of halting the aggression on Gaza, reaching an immediate ceasefire, fully implementing the prisoner exchange agreement, and allowing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
* United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg held meetings in Muscat, capital of Oman, on Thursday with senior Omani officials, Houthi leaders, and members of the diplomatic community to discuss the evolving situation in Yemen, according to a statement by the envoy's office.
* Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has called on world leaders to demonstrate unity, courage, and sustained commitment in addressing the worsening global climate crisis.
* A total of 1,127 Afghan families with 6,774 people returned to their homeland from neighboring Iran and Pakistan on Wednesday, Afghanistan's High Commission for Addressing Returnees Problems said in a statement Thursday.
* Lebanon signed a 250 million USD loan agreement with the World Bank on Thursday to support critical reforms in its struggling electricity sector, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA).
* Rwanda received 137 asylum-seekers evacuated from Libya late Wednesday, according to the ministry in charge of emergency management.
* Thailand's exports rose for a ninth consecutive month in March, hitting the highest level in three years, driven by industrial shipments to key markets, official data showed on Thursday.
* Indonesia recorded an investment realization of 456.2 trillion rupiahs (around 27 billion USD) in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 15.9 percent year-on-year increase from 23.8 billion dollars, according to Rosan Roeslani, minister of investment and downstreaming.
* The German government has largely downgraded its economic outlook for 2025, now projecting zero growth. According to the spring forecast announced on Thursday by Economy Minister Robert Habeck, Europe's largest economy could stagnate or contract for a third consecutive year.
* A World Bank report has projected Bangladesh's economy to grow 3.3 percent in the 2024-25 fiscal year ending in June, lower than the 4.22 percent growth achieved by the country in the previous financial year.
* Afghanistan's central bank will inject 15 million USD into the local market on Saturday to maintain the stability of the national currency the afghani, the central bank said in a statement Thursday.
* The Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of Myanmar has advised fish farmers to protect their fish from extreme heat, the state-owned daily The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.
* Astronomers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the northeastern U.S. state of Massachusetts have discovered a planet located approximately 140 light-years from Earth that appears to be disintegrating at a dramatic pace, the university announced Tuesday.
* More than 100,000 Istanbul residents spent the night outside their homes for fear of aftershocks after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the city on Wednesday, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
* Volcanic ashfall from an eruption of Bezymianny Volcano in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula has blanketed three villages in the Milkovo District, local emergency services said on Thursday.
* Misinformation about measles and its vaccines was spreading rapidly across the United States, as the country was faced with the most serious outbreak of the disease in a decade, a new survey released by KFF Health News reported on Wednesday.
