* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a parliamentary confidence vote on Monday, paving the way for snap elections in February intended to lead Germany out of a political crisis triggered by the collapse of his coalition.
* South Korea's acting president Han Duck-soo on Tuesday called for next year's government budget to be swiftly implemented from the start of 2025 in order to help revive the country's slowing economy.
* France's National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, on Monday approved a special law designed to maintain core state functions and prevent any interruption of public services, three days after President Emmanuel Macron named Francois Bayrou as his fourth prime minister of 2024.
* The Sri Lankan parliament on Tuesday unanimously appointed ruling National People's Power (NPP) Member of Parliament Jagath Wickramaratne as its new speaker.
* Uruguayan President-elect Yamandu Orsi on Monday presented his cabinet lineup of 14 ministers. The ministers, including five women, will assume office on March 1, 2025.
* China was ready to work with India to enhance mutual trust through dialogue and communication, and manage differences with sincerity and integrity, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
* The China-U.S. economic working group has held its seventh meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in a statement on Monday.
* The West is pushing Russia towards its red line, leaving Moscow no choice but to respond, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday at an expanded meeting of the collegium of the Russian Defense Ministry.
* Moscow and Washington warn each other about planned launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, Russian news agencies cited Sergei Karakayev, commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, as saying on Monday.
* German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday his country would likely play a role in securing a future ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine but that it was far too early to tell what a peacekeeping force might look like.
* Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday that Ukraine was willing to devise a deal enabling gas to transit through its territory to western Europe, but ruled out any extension of an existing deal with Russia.
* President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he had a "very good talk" with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, about the status of the war in Gaza.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that he welcomes the Syrian transitional government's commitment to protect civilians, including humanitarians, and their agreement to grant full humanitarian access through all border crossings.
* The European Union have approved a six-month extension of Slovakia's exemption on exporting oil products derived from Russian oil to the Czech Republic, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar announced on Monday.
* Hungary has once again vetoed the European Union's (EU) allocation of 6.5 billion euros (6.83 billion USD) to member states supplying weapons to Ukraine, Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Monday in Brussels.
* The leaders of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries met on Monday in Wisla, Southern Poland, to discuss crisis prevention, particularly in the context of floods, as well as the situation in Ukraine and potential pathways to end the war, according to a statement from the Polish Presidential Office.
* Leaders of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) vowed on Monday to implement structural reforms aimed at boosting economic growth and ensuring monetary stability, according to a statement released at the summit.
* Iran will be granted observer state status in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), local media quoted Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin as saying on Tuesday.
* Space startups in Japan and India said on Tuesday they had agreed to jointly study using laser-equipped satellites to remove debris from orbit, an experimental approach to the increasingly imminent problem of orbital congestion.
* Up to 499 migrants, including 34 women and six children, were rescued off the coast of Libya in the past week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday.
* Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday it was up to Syrians to determine their own future and called for an "inclusive" government taking account of the country's diverse ethnic and religious interests.
* The European Union should be ready to ease sanctions on Syria if the country's new leadership takes "positive steps" to establish an inclusive government and respect women's and minority rights, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.
* Russia has evacuated some of its diplomats out of the Syrian capital Damascus while its embassy continues to function, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
* More than 880,000 people have been displaced since the latest escalation of hostilities in Syria, UN humanitarians said Monday.
* Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians on Tuesday, at least 10 of them in one house in Gaza City, medics said as tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Rafah in the south.
* Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will take part in the D-8 summit in Egypt, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday.
* Visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday confirmed his country's willingness to support Lebanon's official institutions, including the Lebanese army.
* After the European Central Bank (ECB) lowered its key interest rates Thursday, ECB President Christine Lagarde said Monday that further rate cuts are on the way.
* India's wholesale price index (WPI) declined to 1.89 percent in November, the federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on Monday. The annual rate of inflation based on all India WPI number was 1.89 percent for November.
* Indonesia imported 3.85 million tons of rice from January to November this year, marking a 62 percent increase compared to the same period last year, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported on Monday.
* New Zealand's minimum wage rate will increase by 1.5 percent to 23.5 NZ dollars an hour from April 1, 2025, the smallest percentage increase in about three decades.
* Paraguay's economy is expected to grow 3.8% in 2025, boosted by growth in the country's electrical and agricultural sectors, the central bank said on Monday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Papua New Guinea have signed a policy-based loan of 100 million USD to improve governance and accountability across the public sector, the bank said Tuesday.
* At least one person died and a mass casualty triage was set up at a hospital in Port Vila after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Vanuatu Tuesday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
