* Chinese national lawmakers on Monday approved the central budget for 2024 at the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.
* Leader of Portugal's opposition centre-right Democratic Alliance, Luis Montenegro, claimed victory in the country's parliamentary election on Sunday.
* Chad's Prime Minister Succes Masra has announced his candidacy for the May 6 presidential election in the central African nation.
* India on Sunday signed a trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, comprising Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
* Russia said a group of its warships had arrived in Iran to take part in drills with Iran and China in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
* U.S. President Joe Biden and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala will meet in Washington next month in a show of support for Ukraine and NATO, the White House said in a statement on Monday.
* A visit by President Emmanuel Macron to Ukraine should take place in the coming weeks, the French Presidency said on Sunday, the third time a planned trip to the country has been postponed since February.
* Thailand is toughening up measures to combat forest fires, including a ban on unauthorized access to conserved areas, as unhealthy levels of airborne dust continued to plague most northern provinces on Monday.
* The Philippines is poised to produce a "robust talent pool" of 128,000 semiconductor professionals, including engineers and technicians, by 2028, the country's President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos said Monday.
* The U.S. military said on Sunday it has carried out an operation in Haiti to airlift non-essential embassy personnel from the country and added U.S. forces to bolster embassy security, as the Caribbean nation reels under a state of emergency.
* Israel was checking on Monday if Hamas's second-highest military leader died in an air strike in Gaza, media said, as prospects faded of talks securing a ceasefire to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
* Belarus has started a comprehensive inspection of combat readiness of the armed forces, the defence ministry said on Monday. The exercise will include the movement of military equipment, as well as training of personnel with live firing, the defence ministry said.
* Arms imports to Europe surged 94 percent in 2019-2023 from 2014-2018, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday.
* At least 31,112 Palestinians have been killed and 72,760 wounded since Oct. 7 in Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, the enclave's Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday.
* Israel released 56 Palestinians on Monday who were detained during the recent ground operation in Gaza, according to the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza.
* Gabon's transitional President General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema signed a decree on Sunday, announcing that the country is going to hold an inclusive national dialogue on April 2-30.
* Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based branch of the global terrorist network, confirmed the death of its leader, Khaled Batarfi, and named Saad bin Atef Al Awlaki as his successor.
* The Lebanese Naval Force on Monday rescued a boat sinking off the coast of Lebanon's northern city, Tripoli, carrying 20 Syrian nationals attempting to escape the country illegally by sea, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
* The Japanese government on Monday revised its gross domestic product (GDP) to an annualized 0.4 percent growth in the last quarter of 2023, reversing its preliminary reading of recession.
* Foreign direct investment (FDI) that flowed into the Philippines declined year-on-year by 6.6 percent in 2023, the country's central bank said Monday.
* The Republic of Korea's jobless claims fell in double digits due to lower demand in the wholesale and retail, manufacturing, and education service sectors, labor ministry data showed Monday.
* Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Monday that the federal government would abolish almost 500 nuisance tariffs from July 1.
* North America's largest seafood exposition Seafood Expo North America kicked off in Boston on Sunday, drawing participants from over 45 countries and regions.
* Iran's Oil Ministry on Sunday signed major contracts with domestic contractors to boost pressure in the South Pars gas field, which the country jointly shares with Qatar, reported Shana News Agency affiliated with Iran's Oil Ministry.
* Sri Lanka will deploy 4,500 development officers to support elephant conservation efforts, a minister told a news conference held at the Presidential Media Center on Monday.
* Fiji's Health Ministry faces an uphill battle with the increasing number of cases of HIV and AIDS, as Fiji recorded an alarming 415 new HIV cases in 2023 compared to 245 cases in 2022.
* The death toll from floods and landslides in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra has risen to 26, the country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in a statement on Monday, as rescue workers combed through mud and rubble in search for 11 missing people.
* Heavy rains in Bolivia's La Paz prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency, a government document showed on Sunday, as an overflowing river destroyed many houses over the weekend.
