* U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday strongly condemned the outbreak of fighting in Sudan and appealed to the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis.
* China is highly concerned about heightened Israeli-Palestinian conflict and favours the two sides resuming peace talks as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Monday.
* Myanmar's State Administration Council pardoned more than 3,000 prisoners in an amnesty on Monday, the first day of the Myanmar calendar New Year.
* Combat ships of Russia's Pacific Fleet conducted anti-submarine exercises in the Sea of Japan, as well as artillery firing at sea and air targets during a sudden readiness check, TASS news agency reported on Monday.
* European Union member countries' envoys in Brussels will discuss this week a move by Poland and Hungary to ban grain and other food imports from Ukraine, a senior EU official said on Monday.
* Ukraine's foreign minister visited Iraq on Monday for the first time since Russia launched the “special military operation” in Ukraine, seeking diplomatic support from the Middle East where Moscow has been cultivating friends.
* EU lawmakers urged world leaders on Monday to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT, saying they were developing faster than expected.
* Slovakia's government approved placing a ban on importing selected farm-related products from Ukraine, Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said on Monday, adding that it would maintain transit of Ukrainian grains and other produce.
* Iran has officially invited Saudi Arabia's king to visit the country, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday, after the two regional rivals agreed to end years of hostility following a China-brokered agreement in March.
* The Saudi-led coalition on Monday released 104 more war prisoners to Yemen in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
* Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Monday welcomed the continuation of successfully exchanging detained and kidnapped persons between Yemeni sides.
* The United Nations Yemen mediator said on Monday there is the most serious opportunity in eight years to make progress toward ending the conflict, but warned that the "tide could still turn unless the parties take bolder steps toward peace."
* Fitch Solutions said Monday it believes that downside risks to Malaysia's financial stability remain modest and that banks remain well-positioned to support financial intermediation, despite potential negative spillovers from banking stresses in the United States and Europe.
* Indonesia posted a trade balance surplus of 2.91 billion USD in March, marking the 35th surplus since May 2020, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) on Monday.
* The Swedish government has lowered its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast and declared the country to be in a state of recession in its spring amendment budget presented on Monday.
* Uganda's economy expanded by 6.8 percent in the first half of the financial year 2022/23, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said Monday.
* The death toll in the toxic liquor consumption in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has risen to 32, the state-run broadcaster All India Radio said Monday.
* A residential building in Dubai's Al Ras area of Deira was engulfed by a massive fire on Saturday, killing 16 people and injuring nine others, according to authorities.
* Mongolia's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring on Monday issued a warning of strong winds and dust storms.
