* Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Budapest on Wednesday for a state visit to Hungary. In a written speech upon his arrival, Xi said China and Hungary are good friends and good partners of mutual trust.
* The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to kill a resolution to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House voted 359-43 on a motion by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia to oust Johnson from his post, with seven Democrats voting "present."
* North Macedonia's major opposition party VMRO-DPMNE won both parliamentary and presidential elections on Wednesday, according to preliminary turnouts.
* The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has become one of the independent and self-sufficient centers of the emerging multipolar world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
* Ireland, Spain and a number of other European Union member states are considering recognising a Palestinian state on May 21, according to a report by Ireland's national broadcaster.
* Cambodia and Qatar on Wednesday reiterated their commitments to further enhancing bilateral ties and extending support in the international fora for the shared interests of both nations.
* U.S. President Joe Biden told CNN on Wednesday he was working with Arab states that are prepared to rebuild Gaza and help with the transition to a two-state solution, following the war between Hamas and Israel.
* Britain's foreign minister, David Cameron, will urge its fellow NATO members to meet their pledge to spend 2% of GDP on defence, and to be tougher and more assertive with adversaries, in a speech to be delivered on Thursday.
* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday denounced calls to weaken the role of the European Union as self-destructive and irresponsible, speaking ahead of EU parliamentary elections in June.
* The Australian government has committed to the extraction and use of gas as a power source beyond 2050. The governing Labor Party on Thursday announced Australia's Future Gas Strategy, setting out the role gas will play as the country pursues a net zero carbon emissions target by 2050.
* U.S. President Joe Biden vowed publicly for the first time to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces make a major invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza while negotiations in Cairo on a ceasefire plan for the enclave were set to continue on Thursday.
* Israel's United Nations ambassador Gilad Erdan said on Thursday the United States' decision to pause weapons transfers to Israel will significantly impair the country's ability to neutralize Hamas's power, according to Israeli public radio.
* Australia has told Israel that a major ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah would have a devastating impact.
* Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Wednesday said there would be no negotiations or ceasefire until the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is defeated.
* Iraq has signed $300 million agreement with Japan to finance small and medium enterprises in Iraq, state media reported on Thursday without any further details provided on the agreement.
* Iran will change its nuclear doctrine if Israel threatens its existence, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader said, the latest comment by an Iranian official that raises questions about what Tehran says is its peaceful nuclear program.
* An Israeli air strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed four people on Thursday, according to Lebanon's civil defence, with security sources saying those killed were members of armed group Hezbollah.
* Militants in Gaza fired eight rockets from the Rafah area toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing area in Israel shortly after it reopened on Wednesday, injuring one Israeli soldier, according to the Israeli army.
* Syrian air defences on Thursday shot down Israeli missiles fired from the Golan Heights towards Damascus' outskirts targeting a building in the countryside, Syria's defence ministry said.
* At least 34,904 Palestinians have been killed and 78,514 injured in Israel's military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
* Yemen's Houthis targeted two ships, the MSC DEGO and the MSC GINA, in the Gulf of Aden using a number of ballistic missiles and drones, the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Thursday.
* Tunisian President Kais Saied and the visiting Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani discussed in Tunis on Wednesday preparations for the upcoming Arab summit and bilateral ties.
* Communities and workers near the site of a fire at a fuel tank terminal in Thailand's eastern province have been ordered to urgently evacuate as the blaze was likely to spread, the industry ministry said on Thursday.
* Air India Express has sacked at least 30 employees, mostly cabin crew, over mass sick leave amid flight cancellations, officials said Thursday. The terminations came a day after nearly 300 employees of the private airline called in sick and switched off their phones, leading to large-scale flight disruptions.
* With some 21.50 billion USD in remittances, Bangladesh again secured eighth place on the list of countries with the most remittance inflows globally, according to the World Migration Report 2024.
* Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation rate decreased to 32.5% in April from 33.3% in March, slowing slightly more than analysts had expected, data from the country's statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Thursday.
* Mongolia exported 24.9 million tons of coal in the first four months of 2024, up 27.1 percent compared to the same period in 2023, the country's Ministry of Finance said Thursday.
* South Africa's economic performance has improved in April as an official index measuring interbank transactions reached to the highest level in eight months.
* Israel will invest 180 million shekels (about 48.5 million USD) in the rehabilitation and development of agricultural farms in the Tekuma region near the Gaza Strip border, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced on Wednesday.
* Authorities interrupted rescue efforts in flood-ravaged southern Brazil on Wednesday amid more rain and the risk of lightning and stiff winds that threaten to exacerbate a catastrophe that has already killed at least 100 people and left over 163,000 seeking shelter.
* Eleven tornadoes hit western part of U.S. Midwestern state of Michigan Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
