* The fifth round of negotiations on the proposed Sri Lanka-Thailand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) commenced in Colombo on Monday, said the President's Media Division (PMD).
* Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who expressed full support for the Russian leadership after Saturday's abortive Wagner Group mutiny, Interfax reported on Monday.
* Russia on Monday summoned Moldova's ambassador in Moscow, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.
* Sweden and Turkey will convene a high level meeting in Brussels on the possible accession of Sweden to NATO before the alliance's July summit in Vilnius, NATO Secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.
* Lithuania has asked Germany, the Netherlands and France for a rotational deployment of air defence systems, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Monday, adding he had also adressed other countries.
* Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are arranging to meet in Washington in late August, the Asahi newspaper reported on Monday.
* The legal regime of the counter-terrorist operation against the Wagner private military group has been canceled in Moscow and the Moscow region due to the normalization of the current situation, said the Russian government.
* The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday welcomed the UN human rights chief's condemnation of atrocities carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in West Darfur State.
* Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised to rebuild Greece's credit rating, create jobs, raise wages and boost state revenues after he was sworn in for a second term as prime minister on Monday following a resounding election win.
* Gabon's presidential, legislative and local elections will be held on Aug. 26, Michel Stephane Bonda, president of the Gabonese Election Center, announced on Sunday.
* Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Monday urged the Filipinos to make all efforts to preserve the ecology.
* President Vladimir Putin on Monday extended until the end of 2023 the Russian government's response measures to a price cap on Russian oil and oil products imposed by Western countries, according to a decree published on a government website.
* The Philippines and the World Bank (WB) on Monday signed several loan agreements amounting to 1.14 billion USD to finance various government initiatives aimed at accelerating economic recovery.
* The Honduran government announced curfews on Sunday in two northern cities after more than 20 people were killed overnight in separate attacks amid escalating violence in the country.
* EU countries on Monday agreed to increase the maximum size of a fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine by 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) to 12 billion.
* Hungary did not support the disbursement of the next tranche of EPF payment to member states, around 500 million euros, citing grievances over the blacklisting of OTP Bank by the Ukrainians, its foreign minister told a conference on Monday.
* The Turkish lira slid as much as 3% to a record low against the dollar on Monday, after the central bank took steps to simplify policy, while an official and bankers said the bank had stopped using its reserves to support the lira.
* An Israeli reconnaissance drone "fell" on Monday while collecting information over the skies of Lebanon, the Israeli army said in a statement.
* Workers at Amazon's AMZN.O warehouses in Germany's eastern city of Leipzig started a 48-hour strike on Monday to press for higher wages, the country's public sector union ver.di said.
* The New Zealand government is providing further support to help feed people who are struggling to afford the basics like food, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said on Monday.
* The Philippine government has evacuated at least 92,319 people in three flood-hit towns in south-central Mindanao, a government agency said Monday.
* Tornadoes and thunderstorms hit the U.S. Midwest and South on Sunday, leaving dozens of homes damaged and at least one person dead in Indiana, authorities said on Monday.
