Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced May 22 at the opening of the National People's Congress that China will not set a GDP growth target for 2020 due to uncertainties around COVID-19's impacts on the global economy and trade, CNN reported.
The Palestinian Authority is ending security and intelligence cooperation with Israeli authorities in the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported May 21, citing Palestinian officials.
Militants killed a police officer in Indian-controlled Kashmir on May 21, Hindustan Times reported. Authorities also said militants ambushed and killed two soldiers May 20 in the summer Kashmiri capital of Srinagar.
Lebanon's central bank has said it will help purchase food imports starting May 27 as the country starts to experience food shortages caused by its economic crisis, Reuters reported May 21.
A group of South African scientists and mathematicians who focus on modeling infectious diseases in Africa and advise the South African government said the country's ICU capacity could reach full capacity (roughly 4,000) by early July under its more optimistic scenario, News24 reported May 19.
The U.S. Navy on May 19 warned ships in the Persian Gulf to stay 100 meters away from U.S. warships lest they be interpreted as a threat and "subject to lawful defensive measures."
Representatives of the Donetsk and Luhansk separatist areas in eastern Ukraine announced May 19 that their armed forces were being placed on high alert, a move confirmed May 20 by the Luhansk military command. The separatists said the move came in response to an escalation of Ukrainian attacks against them since May 1 and to several incidents targeting civilian infrastructure.
The head of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), Noureddine Taboubi, called for a popular referendum to determine whether Tunsinia’s current democratic political system suits Tunisians’ needs and demands, Tunisie Numerique reported May 18.
France and Germany proposed creating a 500 billion euro ($540 billion) rescue fund to help the EU economy recover from the COVID-19 crisis, Deutsche Welle reported on May 18.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has stopped taking new orders from Chinese tech giant Huawei after the United States announced it was increasing export controls on semiconductors being produced for Huawei, Nikkei Asian Review reported May 18.
