* China has always maintained communication with all sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including Kyiv, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular news briefing on Monday.
* The Kremlin on Monday said a Chinese peace plan on Ukraine that urges both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation and warns against the use of nuclear weapons should be analysed in detail, taking into account the interests of all sides.
* Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that talks with Sweden and Finland regarding their NATO membership bids would resume on March 9, after being suspended in January in the wake of a Koran-burning protest in Stockholm.
* Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged to de-escalate surging violence after meeting on Sunday, issuing a joint statement in which Israel said it would halt discussions about new settlement units in the occupied West Bank for four months.
* Jordan's King Abdullah told US President Joe Biden's top Middle East advisor attending an Israeli-Palestinian meeting on Sunday that efforts should be intensified to bring "calm and reduce escalation" in Palestinian territories, state media reported.
* Egypt's foreign minister met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday in the first visit to Damascus by a top Egyptian diplomat since the civil war began in 2011, in another sign of warming ties between Assad and Arab states that once shunned him.
* Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will announce a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland on Monday if the two can agree final details during lunchtime talks in Britain.
* Finland's Transport Workers' Union AKT said wage negotiations chaired by the national conciliator would continue on Monday to try and avoid an expansion of strike action scheduled for Wednesday.
* Two Israeli settlers and one Palestinian were killed on Sunday in the West Bank as senior Israeli and Palestinian security officials met in Aqaba, Jordan, to soothe tensions ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.
* Iran's atomic chief said Sunday that the country seeks to export its nuclear products and technology amid the "propaganda warfare" conducted by enemies to block the country's progress in the nuclear field.
* Israel's national air carrier El Al began operating on Sunday a new time-saving route via the airspace of Oman and Saudi Arabia, the company said.
* The U.N. peacekeeping mission has suspended flights in Congo's North-Kivu province following an attack on its helicopter last Friday, the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) and a World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson said on Monday.
* The Indian government on Sunday said there was no ban on exports of onions from the South Asian country, but the export of onion seeds is restricted. According to the federal ministry of commerce and industry, India has exported onions worth 523.8 million USD from April to December 2022.
* Israel will invest 125 million shekels (34 million USD) in energy research and development as well as technological innovation, the country's Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said in a statement on Sunday.
* New Zealand will launch an international fundraising appeal for the massive reconstruction work needed after Cyclone Gabrielle tore across the country's north earlier this month, forcing thousands of people into shelters and killing eleven.
* The launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission was canceled early Monday due to an issue with ground systems.
* The death toll has climbed to 65 a week after heavy rains sparked deadly floods and landslides along the coast of Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state, local authorities said Sunday.
* At least 10 Mongolian provinces were experiencing the extreme wintry weather, known as "dzud," the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said on Monday.
* The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) said Sunday it has launched investigations into circumstances in which its helicopter crashed Saturday in southern Somalia, killing three passengers on board.
