* China will speed up the application of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies to improve elderly care, Minister of Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan said Sunday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump denied reports of an explosive clash between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk over sweeping federal workforce cuts during a recent cabinet meeting, The New York Times reported on Friday.
* The Chinese, Iranian and Russian navies will conduct a joint exercise in March, China's Ministry of National Defense announced on Sunday. The exercise, codenamed "Security Belt-2025," is set to take place in areas near the Iranian port of Chabahar, the ministry said.
* Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, UN secretary-general's special representative for Libya and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), called on Saturday for advancing the status of women and girls in Libya.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the country was committed to empowering women and gender equality to promote community and society development.
* Israel will send a delegation to Qatar's capital Doha on Monday to advance negotiations for renewing the ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, according to a statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on Saturday.
* Hamas on Sunday reiterated the need to start the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire negotiations and allow relief supplies to enter Gaza.
* The Arab League (AL) has been following with great concern the security situation in Syria, the pan-Arab body said in a statement on Saturday. The AL also condemned violence and uncontrolled killing, as well as any external interventions aimed at fueling the internal situation in Syria.
* Israel would issue work permits for Druze citizens of Syria to work in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday.
* The Israeli military said its aircraft conducted an airstrike Sunday on militants attempting to plant an explosive device in the northern Gaza Strip.
* Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has called for an immediate end to hostilities in South Sudan.
* South Sudan peace monitors on Sunday called for speedy investigations into the violence in Upper Nile State and the attack on a UN helicopter on Friday that led to the death of a UN personnel and dozens of soldiers.
* Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday affirmed his commitment to restoring trust between the Alliance of Sahel States and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
* China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 2.2 percent year on year in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Sunday.
* Brunei has implemented multiple measures to address fiscal deficit through Fiscal Consolidation Program (FCP), including reviewing government department expenditures, reducing waste, and eliminating unproductive spending, a minister has said.
* Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred that was downgraded to tropical low on Saturday has continued influencing some parts of Australia's states of Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), with floods, strong winds and heavy rains hitting several areas in the two states.
* A massive wildfire in the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Iwate was declared contained on Sunday after damaging at least 210 buildings, according to the local government.
