* The secretary of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said on Monday that development and deepening of ties with China is a strategic course for Russia, state-owned news agency TASS reported on Monday.
* "Re-enacting the Cold War would be foolish," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday, calling for settling the Ukraine crisis under a framework of the United Nations.
* South Korea and the European Union agreed on Monday to launch a strategic dialogue between its top diplomats to boost security cooperation, a joint statement said.
* China will continue to welcome U.S.-funded firms to develop in the country, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said on Monday at a seminar in Shanghai.
* US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday signed a defence and maritime surveillance agreement with Papua New Guinea that will make it easier for the forces of both countries to train together.
* Sudan's army conducted air strikes in the capital Khartoum on Monday, residents said, seeking to win ground against its paramilitary rivals hours before a week-long ceasefire aimed at allowing delivery of aid was due to take effect.
* Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Monday that Armenia was ready to recognise the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave as part of neighbouring Azerbaijan if Baku guaranteed the security of its ethnic Armenian population, the Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.
* Chinese stocks closed higher on Monday after the country's central bank vowed to support economic growth and U.S. President Joe Biden said he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China "shortly".
* Japan's government may set up a new budget account to manage spending linked to childcare funding reforms, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.
* U.S. President Joe Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet to discuss the debt ceiling on Monday, after the two leaders held a phone call on Sunday as the president flew back to Washington that both sides described as positive.
* NATO's Vilnius summit in July should give approval for Sweden to become a member of the organisation, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told foreign correspondents in Oslo on Monday.
* Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on Monday said his ministry would summon the Hungarian ambassador over a dispute linked to the release of people he called human traffickers by Hungarian authorities.
* Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein won the most seats in Northern Ireland's local elections, according to the full tally released on Sunday.
* The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), kicked off in Geneva on Sunday, focused on "saving lives, driving health for all," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.
* Sri Lanka will introduce a new program in June to streamline the issuance of new passports, allowing applicants to receive their passports within three working days, a minister said on Monday.
*An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 jolted Prince Edward Islands region at 1456 GMT on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 43.4362 degrees south latitude and 39.3676 degrees east longitude.
* India Meteorological Department has issued a heatwave alert for seven states, officials said on Sunday.
* Mexican authorities on Sunday raised the alert level due to the recent increased activity of Popocatepetl volcano.
* Despite low groundwater levels in most of France, there is no major drought problem threatening crops, in particular cereals, as this stage, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said on Monday.
* At least 20 people died in a fire at the Mahdia Secondary School in Guyana, AFP news agency reported on Monday citing a government official. The Guyanese government has mobilised a "full-scale medical evacuation-supported response".
