1. The Bank of Korea held its key interest rate unchanged at 3.5% for the sixth straight time Thursday, amid a slowdown in growth and heightened uncertainties, such as the conflict in the middle-east and rising household debts.

2. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, held a press conference Thursday after talks with North Korean foreign minister Choe Son-hui, and said that Russia supports the establishment of negotiations without preconditions to discuss security issues on the Korean peninsula.

3. U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the blast at a Gaza Strip hospital appeared to be from “an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group.” President Biden also pledged support to Israelis and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank.