* Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the city of Samarkand, and pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from Sept. 14 to 16, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced Monday.
* The Republic of Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to visit London, New York and Canada from Sept 18-24, Yonhap news agency said on Monday, citing Yoon's office.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, held a telephone conversation on the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP), the Kremlin said in a statement Sunday.
* Greece will always seek to keep open channels of communication with Türkiye, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday.
* German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht on Monday again rejected demands to supply Kyiv with main battle tanks.
* Iran said on Monday it was ready to continue cooperating with U.N. nuclear watchdog while revealing a drone capable of hitting major cities in Israel, which has threatened to attack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to save a 2015 nuclear pact.
* Iran has no preconditions in its talks with Saudi Arabia, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday, calling on Riyadh to adopt a "constructive approach" to improve ties.
* Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed efforts to ensure the implementation of policy measures to stabilize economic growth, employment and prices.
* Germany's economy will contract next year as a dramatic rise in energy costs due to the conflict in Ukraine extinguishes the chances of recovery after pandemic-related lockdowns, the Ifo institute said on Monday in a U-turn from its forecast three months prior.
* Japan's government is planning to waive tourist visa requirements from some countries as part of a further easing of border controls enacted to stop the spread of COVID-19, Fuji News Network reported on Monday.
* The rate of retail inflation in India rose to 7 percent during August, compared with 6.71 percent in July, according to government data released on Monday.
* Malaysia's palm oil stocks rose 18.16 percent from the previous month to 2.09 million tons in August, official data showed Monday.
* Natural gas flows from Russia to Europe along key routes were steady on Monday morning, while the Nord Stream 1 pipeline remained shut.
* Britain's economy grew by less than expected in July when it expanded by 0.2% from June, official data showed on Monday.
* Lebanon's central bank said it has entirely ceased providing dollars for gasoline imports in a move that will likely lead to higher and more volatile prices as well as increased pressure on the local currency which has been steadily losing value.
* Türkiye's current account balance recorded a deficit of 4 billion USD in July, up from 3.7 billion dollars in the same month last year, the data released by the central bank on Monday showed.
* Germany must meet NATO's 2% of GDP military spending target over the long term even after a 100 billion euro (101 billion USD) special fund is used up, and accept a military leadership it earlier shied away from, its defence minister said.
* Authorities in Pakistan are scrambling to protect a vital power station supplying electricity to millions of people against a growing threat of flooding, officials said on Monday, taking steps such as building a dike in front of it.
* Belgium started a vaccination campaign on Monday with new Omicron-adapted COVID-19 shots. It is primarily a "booster" dose for people who have already received vaccines against COVID-19.
