* The United States, Canada, Japan, and the Philippines conducted a two-day joint maritime exercise in Manila's exclusive economic zone in the East Sea/South China Sea, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said on its website on Monday.
* Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's remarks about deploying more nuclear weapons were an escalation.
* Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in Canberra on Monday that the Chinese and Australian sides had a candid exchange of views on some issues concerning their differences, and have agreed to properly manage those differences in a manner consistent with the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership.
* European Union countries approved a flagship policy to restore damaged nature on Monday, after months of delay, making it the first green law to pass since European Parliament elections this month.
* Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas said on Monday he hoped there was room for understanding and negotiation to avoid tariffs being imposed after China said it was opening an anti-dumping probe into European Union pork exports.
* More than 1,000 doctors in South Korea will face probe over kickbacks from a drugmaker, Yonhap news agency said Monday citing the Seoul metropolitan police agency.
* Russian penitentiary authorities foiled an attempt to take hostages in the south-western Rostov region, the TASS news agency reported Sunday.
* Iranian Interim President Mohammad Mokhber and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated on Sunday the two countries' commitment to further improving ties, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office.
* The Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure on Sunday announced a strategic plan for the country's energy transition from traditional fossil fuels to biological, synthetic, and hydrogen fuels by 2050.
* Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday highlighted the necessity of effective measures to stop the ongoing Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
* Iran's Interim President Mohammad Mokhber made a phone call with Iraq's President Abdul Latif Rashid on Sunday, during which the two sides pledged to solidify economic cooperation, according to a statement from the Iranian presidency.
* Hostilities continue in Rafah and southern Gaza despite the Israeli military's announcement on Sunday of tactical pauses in operations to allow humanitarian aid to enter, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, told reporters in Oslo on Monday.
* Israeli media reported on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the security cabinet Sunday night that the war cabinet, which was created on Oct. 11, has been officially disbanded.
* More than 37,347 Palestinians have been killed and 85,372 have been injured in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
* Intensified cross-border fire from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement into Israel could trigger serious escalation, the Israeli military said on Sunday.
* The African Union's (AU) senior envoy to Somalia has reassured Somalis that the withdrawal of troops from the country will not lead to a "security vacuum."
* The African Union (AU) Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) said on Sunday that it has handed over the Barire military base to the Somali security forces, marking the start of the third phase of the troop drawdown.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Canada on Monday announced a partnership to create a new 360 million Canadian dollars (about 262.1 million USD) trust fund that will support private-sector projects in Asia-Pacific region focused on climate and nature-based solutions while accelerating gender equity.
* Cambodia reported more than 2.5 million air travelers during the first five months of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 22 percent, Mao Havannall, minister in charge of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, said on Sunday.
* Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 2.86 billion USD in April, 3.1 percent higher than the 2.77 billion dollars recorded a year earlier, the Philippine central bank said on Monday.
* As all three U.S. ratings agencies upgraded Cyprus' credit ratings, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said Saturday that the country's economy has received a boost.
* Highly pathogenic avian influenza has spread to a seventh poultry farm near Melbourne, the government of Australia's Victoria state said on Monday.
* Fourteen Jordanians have been reported dead and 17 others missing during the ongoing Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, the Jordanian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
* The death toll in Monday's train mishap in eastern India rose to eight, as more than 25 people were rescued from the mishap spot and admitted to a local hospital, a Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official reportedly told local media.
* Torrential rain triggered landslides in China's Fujian province, killing four people and leaving two missing, state television CCTV reported on Monday.
* A landslide in Ecuador killed at least six people and left 19 others injured, amid a heavy rainstorm that battered parts of Central and South America, according to Ecuadorian authorities on Sunday.
