* Republic of Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Monday that he would extend tax credits on investments in the domestic semiconductor industry to boost employment and attract more talent.
* A total of 24,100 Palestinians have been killed and 60,834 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
* China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for a larger, more authoritative Israeli-Palestinian peace conference and a timetable to implement a two-state solution as the Gaza conflict escalated and the Red Sea became a new flash point.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday, during which the two sides discussed the ways to strengthen bilateral ties and stressed the importance of implementing an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
* The United States and Britain conducted a new strike on Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Sunday evening, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.
* Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the U.S. air strikes on Yemen, saying the attacks revealed what he called the true aggressive nature of the United States, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
* Israeli cabinet ministers on Sunday began what is expected to be a marathon session on approving an amended 2024 budget to account for a sharp rise in spending to finance the country's war with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
* The Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Sunday U.S. actions in the Red Sea would harm the security of all shipping as the area had now become a conflict zone, saying the Houthis of Yemen would keep up attacks despite U.S. and British strikes.
* The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Sunday said the number of people fleeing the war in Sudan has surpassed 7.4 million.
* Britain will commit 20,000 military personnel to serve across Europe in a major NATO exercise in the first half of this year, as well as warships and fighter jets, the defence ministry said on Monday.
* Chinese automakers sold a record total of 553,000 cars in Russia in 2023, accounting for almost half of Russia's auto market, says industry experts.
* Cambodia exported 11.12 billion USD worth of garment, footwear and travel products to international markets in 2023, a decrease of 12 percent from 12.68 billion dollars in the year before, said a General Department of Customs and Excise's report on Saturday.
* Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3 billion USD in November 2023, 2.9 percent higher than the 2.9 billion dollars recorded in November 2022, the Philippine central bank said Monday.
* Sri Lankan State Minister for Tourism Diana Gamage predicted on Friday that the revitalization of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka will attract 2 million tourists in 2024, generating estimated revenue of 6 billion USD.
* Saudi Arabia unveiled Sunday a recycling plan that would contribute 120 billion riyals (32 billion USD) to its gross domestic product, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
* A volcano that erupted in southwest Iceland for the second time in less than a month, setting fire to several houses in a fishing town, appeared to be less active early on Monday
