* Britain held a state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, the country's longest-reigning monarch, at Westminster Abbey on Monday, attended by a host of world leaders, royalty and other dignitaries.
* Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it was ready for talks on a prisoner exchange to free US citizens jailed in Russia, but that the American embassy in Moscow was "not fulfilling its official duties" to maintain dialogue.
* Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov urged his country on Monday to have trust in its army and strategic partners, and said there was no need for volunteer forces at the border with Tajikistan after last week's deadly clashes there.
* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for the start of a two-day visit to the Gulf region, the Berlin government said on Monday.
* Iran does not rule out the possibility of a meeting on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York on reviving its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday.
* The Hungarian government is committed to fulfilling its promises made to the European Commission (EC) in order to gain access to billions of euros of European Union (EU) funds, Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Regional Development and Utilization of EU Funds, told a press conference on Sunday.
* China's average contribution to global economic growth exceeded 30 percent during the 2013-2021 period, ranking first across the world, a recent report showed.
* Malaysia's vehicle sales increased by 36.16 percent month-on-month to 66,614 units in August, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said Monday.
* Myanmar's seaborne trade with foreign partners reached 11.52 billion USD as of Sept. 9 in the current financial year 2022-2023 beginning April, according to its Ministry of Commerce.
* Thailand's government expects to achieve up to 2.38 trillion baht (about 64.3 billion USD) in tourism revenue in 2023, a government spokesperson said Monday.
* The Bangladeshi government will recruit 6,000 new social workers, bringing the workforce from 3,000 to 9,000, to better protect children in communities.
* China's government on Monday issued draft rules aimed at making it easier for some foreigners to enter China for visits to tourism sites along the Chinese border.
* US President Joe Biden said in an interview aired on Sunday that "the pandemic is over," even though the country continues to grapple with coronavirus infections that kill hundreds of Americans daily.
* Sweden's central bank will raise the benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, its biggest hike in 30 years, when it makes its policy announcement on Sept. 20, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday.
* The annual Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival, kicked off in Munich on Saturday for the first time since 2019, marking the end of a two-year hiatus as a result of the pandemic.
* The COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), has delivered 1.72 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to 146 countries and territories, GAVI data shows.
* Typhoon Nanmadol brought ferocious winds and record rainfall to western Japan on Monday as one of the biggest storms to hit the country in years killed at least two people, disrupted transport and forced manufacturers to suspend operations.
* Fiona has become a hurricane, with sustained winds of 130 km per hour, as it is heading toward Puerto Rico, according to the latest public advisory issued by the US Hurricane Center on Sunday.
* Tanzanian water authorities on Sunday announced that they would organize a meeting of stakeholders aimed at deliberating on means and ways of ending water shortage in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania.
* Pakistan continues to see an increase in dengue cases amid the recent outbreak due to the ongoing floods in the South Asian country.
