* Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a statement on Monday that he had asked a number of high-ranking officials to step down from their positions.
* Polls opened in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday morning in local council elections. Voters will choose from thousands of deputies running for the country's city and village councils.
* Gabonese voters approved a new constitution by a landslide 91.8%, the interior minister said on Sunday, after a referendum that the junta in power promised would be a steppingstone to democratic rule.
* British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will seek to build a "pragmatic" relationship with China that is "rooted in the UK's national interests" when he meets President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil on Monday.
* In a major shift of his administration's policy on the Ukraine crisis, U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized Kiev to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia, U.S. media reported Sunday.
* The Kremlin said on Monday that if the United States allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike far into Russia then it would lead to a rise in tension and deepen the involvement of the United States in the conflict.
* Nigeria and India on Sunday agreed to build a robust strategic partnership, pledging to strengthen ties in key areas including economic development, defense, healthcare, and food security.
* The Philippines and United States will sign on Monday a military intelligence-sharing deal, Manila's defence ministry said, in a further deepening of security ties between the two defence treaty allies.
* Russia's air defence units destroyed a drone heading towards Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Monday.
* Farmers will protest across France on Monday as the prospect of a trade deal between European and Mercosur countries sharpens discontent over foreign competition that fuelled a farming crisis earlier this year.
* The European Union's top diplomat on Monday confirmed he would suggest to members of the bloc that the EU pauses its political dialogue with Israel, citing the country's conduct of the war in Gaza.
* U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday for talks on a ceasefire between militant group Hezbollah and Israel, a Lebanese political source told Reuters on Monday.
* Britain will seek backing from other United Nations Security Council members on Monday for its demand that Sudan's warring parties stop hostilities and allow deliveries of aid, the British foreign ministry said.
* Singapore's public sector emitted 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent for the fiscal year (FY) 2023, a 0.2-percent decrease from FY2022, according to an official report issued Monday.
* Japan experienced a sharp temperature drop on Monday due to a strong cold wave, following unseasonably warm weather on Sunday. The Japan Meteorological Agency warns that the cold weather will intensify, with the potential for snow in lowland areas of northern Japan, possibly affecting transportation.
