* Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, ratified agreements on the accession of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson to Russia, it said on Monday in a statement. Members of the State Duma unanimously voted in favor of the legislation.
* Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in a policy speech marking the start of an extraordinary parliamentary session on Monday vowed to reboot the nation's hard-hit tourism industry by targeting increased spending by visitors.
* Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will participate in the presidential runoff on Oct. 30, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) announced Sunday.
* The dengue virus has killed 21 people and infected 26,867 across Laos so far this year, according to the country's Ministry of Health.
* Cambodia has so far administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to some 15.19 million people, or 94.9 percent of its 16-million population, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday.
* Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday ordered relevant agencies and local authorities to step up efforts to support flood-affected areas.
* Over 3,000 Philippine and US troops on Monday kicked off a series of joint military drills to sharpen their "interoperability in conducting combined tactical readiness."
* India's manufacturing growth dipped to a three-month low in September as depicted by purchasing managers' index (PMI) that fell to 55.1 during the month under review from 56.2 in August.
* The autumn session of Mongolia's State Great Khural, the country's parliament, opened in Ulan Bator on Monday amid economic woes.
* Indonesia's inflation in September reached 1.17 percent, the highest since December 2014, as a result of fuel price hikes in the country, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) said on Monday. The annual inflation rate rose to 5.95 percent year-on-year.
* The British government on Monday announced it is not proceeding with the abolition of the highest 45-percent rate of income tax following huge financial turmoil and harsh criticism from within the Conservative Party.
* The number of non-European Union citizens ordered to leave Italy jumped over 2,000% in April-June from January-March, the bloc's statistics office said on Monday, though the largest number of such orders was issued by France.
* The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said on Monday that 48 countries are exposed to the global food crisis, and half of them are vulnerable.
* British and EU officials will hold their first talks in over seven months this week on the Northern Ireland Protocol, the part of the Brexit deal that governs the trading arrangements of the British province.
* Italy's economy probably shrank in the third quarter and will keep contracting until mid-2023, according to Treasury forecasts that will make grim reading for Giorgia Meloni, the rightist leader expected to be named prime minister this month.
* The OPEC+ group of oil producers is discussing output cuts of more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd), OPEC sources said, and voluntary cuts by individual members could come on top of that, making it their largest cut since 2020.
* The World Bank has agreed to provide Egypt with $400 million to develop the logistics and transportation sectors and support the shift towards lower carbon emissions, the group said in a statement on Monday.
* President Joe Biden plans to announce more than $60 million in aid to help Puerto Rico during a visit on Monday to survey damage as the island grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.
* Hungary has gas reserves covering about five to six months' worth of consumption, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday, adding that Hungary would help its southern neighbour Serbia with supplies if needed.
* Greece will submit a technical proposal for a cap on natural gas prices to the European Commision later this week following consultations with other European countries, its energy minister said on Monday.
* Greece's 2023 draft budget, submitted to parliament on Monday, foresees a 2.1-percent growth of gross domestic product (GDP) next year, according to a release from the Finance Ministry.
* Bulgaria's population has dropped by 844,781 over the past 10 years to 6,519,789, according to the final results of the country's latest census released Monday.
* Türkiye's annual inflation hit 83.45 percent in September, the highest in 24 years, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced on Monday.
* The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday urged the United States to quit its addiction to sanctions and display "constructive" behavior if it seeks to reach an agreement on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal, according to official news agency IRNA.
* Palestine on Sunday urged the European countries to tie their relations with Israel to its adherence to international law, UN resolutions, and human rights principles.
* The Somali government confirmed Monday that a top leader of the al-Shabab terror group was killed in a joint operation by the Somali National Army (SNA) and international partner forces.
* At least 80 people were killed in the US states of Florida and North Caroline by Hurricane Ian which made landfall in southwestern Florida as Category 4 last week.
* An estimated 120,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Puerto Rico on Monday, two weeks after Hurricane Fiona caused an island-wide outage for its 3.3 million people.
* More than 90 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, which the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency, as confirmed cases crossed 68,000 and non-endemic countries reported their first related deaths.
* The bodies of four migrants, who died on the Atlantic Ocean in an inflatable dinghy with 34 people on board, and a survivor were brought to Spain's Canary Islands, the local maritime rescue service and an NGO said on Sunday.
* Europe has experienced its worst bird flu crisis ever this year with nearly 50 million poultry culled, and the persistence of the virus over the summer has raised the risk of widespread infections next season, the EU's Food Safety Agency (EFSA) said.
