* The China-Europe freight-train service has recorded more than 40,000 trips, with the transported goods valued at over US$200 billion, official data shows.
* Thailand's health minister said the Japanese government would donate some AstraZeneca vaccines as the Southeast Asian country seeks to shore up supplies after some early delays in its vaccinations.
* Cuba's Soberana 2 vaccine candidate has shown 62% efficacy with just two of its three doses, state-run biopharmaceutical corporation BioCubaFarma said on Saturday.
* Talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are "closer to a deal," said a European Union (EU) official on Sunday after the latest meeting that wrapped up the previous six rounds of negotiations.
* A no-confidence vote against Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven passed on Monday, as a majority of opposition backed his departure.
* US President Joe Biden will host Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Chairman of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah at the White House on June 25, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Sunday.
* Iranian President-Elect Ebrahim Raisi said his country's foreign policy will not be limited by the 2015 nuclear agreement, in his first news conference since his victory in Friday's election.
* Israel's top diplomat will travel to the United Arab Emirates next week in the first official visit by an Israeli minister to the Gulf state since the two countries established diplomatic relations last year.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed on Sunday the need to urgently revive the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Shoukry made the remarks during his meeting in Cairo with European Union's Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Sven Koopmans, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
* Millions of Ethiopians started voting on early Monday morning in the sixth general elections to choose from more than 9,000 parliamentary and regional council candidates. The twice-postponed elections are being held in seven of the 10 regional states, with voters expected to choose candidates vying for 440 of the 547 parliamentary seats in the East African country.
* Nearly 1.03 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in China as of Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday.
* Cuba reported 1,436 new cases and 11 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total infections to 167,804 and deaths to 1,159, the Ministry of Public Health said Sunday. A total of 8,101 Cubans are in the active stage of the virus, the highest number so far, said the ministry.
* Brazil registered 1,025 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 501,825, the health ministry said Sunday. A total of 44,178 new infections were detected, raising the total caseload to 17,927,928, the ministry said.
* The Kremlin on Monday described the coronavirus situation in Russia as difficult and said it was still deteriorating, rather than getting better. Russia reported 17,378 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and 440 deaths linked to coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
* Britain is piloting a plan to ditch the self-isolation requirement for people who have received two doses of vaccine if they are exposed to someone with the virus, the health minister said.
* Republic of Korea's SK bioscience said it plans to expand vaccine production by investing about KRW150 billion (US$132.3 million) by 2024.
* Thailand reported 3,175 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, marking the fifth consecutive day recording over 3,000 coronavirus infections as it was gradually easing restrictions for economic recovery.
* Indonesia will tighten social restrictions for two weeks starting Tuesday, a government minister said.
* Britain has reported another 9,284 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,630,040, according to official figures released Sunday.
* An Israeli health official urged more 12- to 15-year-olds to be vaccinated, citing new outbreaks that he attributed to the Delta variant.
* The Dubai Airshow will be held under capacity restrictions in November, its organiser said.
* Qatar will only allow people fully vaccinated to attend next year's World Cup and is in talks to secure one million doses, the prime minister said.
* Indonesia's most active volcano Merapi located between Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java province emitted hot clouds as far as 1.5 kilometers to the southwest on Monday morning, said head of Indonesia's Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) Hanik Humaida.
