* South Korea's Ministry of Justice Monday placed a travel ban on President Yoon Suk-yeol, Yonhap news agency reported, marking the first time a sitting South Korean president has been barred from leaving the country.
* Tongan King Tupou VI has officially accepted the resignation of Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni as prime minister, a statement on the parliament's Facebook page said. The resignation came Monday morning as the parliament was preparing to debate a motion for a vote of no confidence.
* Tensions flared on Romania's Constitution Day as political figures and citizens voiced their outrage over the unprecedented cancellation of the 2024 presidential elections.
* China and South Korea have agreed to accelerate talks on phase two of their free trade pact during a Monday meeting of the two countries' commerce officials in Seoul, China's commerce ministry said.
* Steve Witkoff, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, said on Monday in Abu Dhabi he hoped the hostages held in Gaza will be freed before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.
* Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow, Russia's state-run RIA news agency reported Sunday, citing a source from the Kremlin. The source said that Russia had granted asylum to them out of humanitarian considerations.
* The Syrian National Coalition, a main Syrian opposition, vowed Sunday to continue working towards the transfer of authority to a transitional governing body with full executive powers, to usher in a free, democratic, and pluralistic Syria.
* China's foreign ministry on Monday called for a "political solution" to be found in Syria as soon as possible to restore stability and order, after rebels seized the Syrian capital over the weekend and its president fled to Russia.
* France will support Syria's political transition following the fall of Bashar al-Assad and will send a special diplomatic envoy to the country in the coming days, France's caretaker foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday.
* Israel will step up airstrikes on Syrian stores of advanced weaponry, Israeli officials said on Monday, and keep a 'limited' troop presence on the ground, hoping to head off any threat that could emerge in the fallout of president Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.
* Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Syria's future, including its political and ruling systems, should be decided only by the Syrian people.
* Turkey will work for the safe and voluntary return home of the Syrian migrants it hosts and will help in the reconstruction of Syria after President Bashar al-Assad's sudden ouster by rebels, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the 1974 UN-monitored Disengagement Agreement, which established a demilitarized buffer zone between Israel and Syria, has "collapsed."
* A total of 30 suspects have been arrested in Ghana for looting and causing property damage during post-election violence, Ghanaian police confirmed late Sunday.
* At least 28 people were killed and 37 others injured on Sunday in a bombardment targeting a fuel station south of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, according to a volunteer group and local media.
* The Japanese government on Monday submitted a supplementary budget proposal for fiscal 2024 to the National Diet, outlining measures to address rising prices and stimulate economic growth.
* Singapore's labor market showed strong growth in the third quarter of 2024, with total employment nearly doubling the increase seen in the previous quarter, according to the latest Labor Market Report by the Ministry of Manpower published Monday.
* Pakistan's Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb on Saturday said that the country's economy is on an upward trajectory due to increasing investment inflows and promising reforms to strengthen economic foundations.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday approved a 100-million-USD loan in additional financing to support critical infrastructure development through public-private partnerships in Bangladesh.
* This year will be the world's warmest since records began, with extraordinarily high temperatures expected to persist into at least the first few months of 2025, European Union scientists said on Monday.
* South Brazil's Santa Catarina state remains on alert for heavy storms, which have triggered flooding, landslides, and evacuations in 22 cities, according to the country's civil defense authority.
* The Kanlaon volcano in central Philippines erupted on Monday, spewing a column of ash and gas into the sky, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
