* The Republic of Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday ordered preparations for widening a back-to-work order beyond the cement industry amid a prolonged truckers' strike.
* China's natural gas consumption rose year on year in October 2022, according to the country's top economic planner. Apparent consumption of natural gas increased 1.8 percent year on year to 30.53 billion cubic meters in October, the National Development and Reform Commission said.
* Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on Pakistan's embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, via a statement carried by one of the militant group's affiliated channels on Telegram on Sunday.
* The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Saturday appealed for sustained international support to vulnerable Lebanese and refugees in the crisis-stricken country.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Aabdollahian has held a phone conversation with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on issues of mutual concerns, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed the "very strong" economic recovery of the Seychelles economy, Seychelles News Agency reported Saturday, citing Seychelles Finance Minister Naadir Hassan.
* A ship with Ukrainian wheat destined for Ethiopia arrived in port on Saturday, the first vessel to sail as part of a push to send food to countries most vulnerable to famine and drought, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
* A senior official of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday announced that a new round of Palestinian dialogue for inter-factional reconciliation would be held in Algeria at the end of December.
* The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported 4,168 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said Sunday. Altogether 27,433 local asymptomatic carriers were newly identified.
* Russia registered 6,669 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 21,611,003, said the official monitoring and response center on Saturday.
* Singaporeans should expect a new wave of COVID-19 infections with more people traveling and due to the upcoming year-end festivities, the Straits Times website quoted Health Minister Ong Ye Kung as saying on Sunday.
* Malaysia reported 1,866 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Saturday, bringing the national total to 4,998,830, according to the health ministry.
* The Czech Republic confirmed its first case of African swine fever for the first time in almost five years and veterinarians were taking measures to prevent its spread, the Czech Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday.
* Israeli fighter jets on Sunday carried out a series of airstrikes on facilities belonging to militant groups in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets fired from the coastal enclave, Palestinian eyewitnesses said.
