* The head of Russia's navy, Nikolai Yevmenov, met Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu in Beijing on Monday, the TASS news agency cited the ministry as saying. The two men discussed strengthening cooperation in the Pacific, TASS reported.
* At least 719 people were arrested overnight from Saturday to Sunday in France, the fifth night of nationwide violence sparked by the killing of a teen by a police officer, France's Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
* An agreement on extending the deployment of three German air defence units to Poland is being held up by fraught separate negotiations on the establishment of a maintenance hub in Poland for Leopard tanks damaged in Ukraine.
* Iran said on Monday that its upcoming admission to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a full member state will promote regionalism and facilitate the economic development of other member states.
* Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Monday condemned the Israeli military raid on the northern West Bank city of Jenin and called on peace advocates across the world to intervene immediately and stop the Israeli "ominous and criminal" operation.
* Israeli forces hit the city of Jenin with drone strikes on Monday as part of one of the biggest West Bank operations in 20 years, killing at least eight people and involving hundreds of troops in gun battles that continued into the afternoon.
* Moldova has opened a criminal investigation into security at the country's main international airport after a deadly shootout in which two people were killed, the prosecutor general's office said on Monday.
* Hundreds of anti-government protesters converged on Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Monday, with some in the crowd scuffling with police who tried to clear them from blocking access to the terminal that handles most flights in and out of the country.
* Thousands of unionized hotel workers in Southern California, the USA, walked off their job Sunday morning for higher wages and better welfare, just as tourists descended on the region for the Fourth of July holiday.
* Last month was the hottest June on record in Britain, the country's national weather service said on Monday, warning that human-induced climate change was making such temperature records increasingly likely.
* Russia wrapped up its 2022-2023 agricultural year with an estimated record of 58-59 million tons of grain exports, reported RIA Novosti on Monday.
* Cambodia recorded some 2.57 million international visitors in the first half of 2023, a sharp increase of 409 percent from 506,762 over the same period last year, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Monday.
* Indonesia's inflation further eased to 3.52 percent in June, staying in the central bank's target range of 2-4 percent for the second month following May's 4 percent, according to Statistics Indonesia BPS on Monday.
* Myanmar exported more than 132,938 tons of black grams within the first three months of the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to the country's Ministry of Commerce on Monday.
* Pakistan's benchmark share index scored its biggest single-day jump in 15 years on Monday, gaining 5.9% on the first trading session after the country secured a last-gasp funding deal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
* Saudi Arabia announced on Monday its decision to extend the voluntary cut of oil production by 1 million barrels per day.
* Oman is to establish two economic free zones in Khazaen economic city at the Al Batinah South Governorate, the state news agency said on Twitter.
