* Singapore will allow vaccinated arrivals from five more countries, including Indonesia and India, to access the country without quarantine via its travel lanes from Nov. 29, its transport minister said on Monday.
* The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was ready to mediate in the migrant crisis between its close ally Belarus and the European Union, and that Moscow was already doing so to an extent.
* UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Monday that all indications point to an oil supply surplus in the first quarter of 2022 and he expected OPEC+ would likely stick to current production policy when it next meets in early December.
* Russia has no plans to direct natural gas flows away from Belarus despite its leader's threat to cut transit to Europe amid a migrant crisis on its western borders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
* Portugal's ruling centre-left Socialists have gained support after Portuguese were called to vote in a snap election on Jan. 30, an opinion poll showed on Monday, with the centre-right Social Democrats in a somewhat less distant second place.
* In need of a political boost, President Joe Biden will sign a US$1 trillion infrastructure bill on Monday at a ceremony expected to draw Democrats and some Republicans who were instrumental in getting the legislation passed.
* United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi will visit Iran "probably soon", the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday, as Tehran and world powers are set to resume talks about revival of a 2015 nuclear deal.
* China administered about 7.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on Nov. 14, bringing the total number of doses administered to 2.39 billion, data from the National Health Commission showed on Monday.
* Russia reported 1,211 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, close to an all-time high of 1,241 reported last week, as well as 38,420 new coronavirus cases.
* US President Joe Biden's vaccine requirements are prompting more Americans to get COVID-19 shots, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.
* Several outbreaks of severe bird flu in Europe and Asia have been reported in recent days to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in a sign the virus is spreading quickly again.
* Britain's booster vaccine rollout is to be extended to people between 40 and 49 years old, officials said, in a bid to beef up waning immunity in the population ahead of the colder winter months.
* International travel to Spain will likely recover some two thirds of its pre-pandemic levels in the fourth quarter of this year, the tourism minister Reyes Maroto said.
* The Belgian government put the country on increased risk for bird flu as the virus spreads across Europe, the food safety agency AFSCA said in a statement.
* Austria entered a lockdown for people not vaccinated against the coronavirus, with reinforced police checks to ensure compliance.
* Germany's infection rate has risen to its highest level since the start of the pandemic, public health figures showed, as the three parties in talks to form a new government plan an expansion of measures to tackle the pandemic.
* Israel's economy is expected to grow 7.1% in 2021 and 4.7% in 2022, the Finance Ministry said following a rapid recovery. The country also said on Sunday children aged five to 11 would be eligible for vaccination.
* International travel to Spain will likely recover some two thirds of its pre-pandemic levels in the fourth quarter of this year, Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said on Monday, suggesting a post-summer revival in visits will be sustained.
* Bahrain has approved the emergency use of AstraZeneca's anti-COVID drug Evusheld, the state news agency reported on Sunday.
* A bomb blast in the Afghan capital of Kabul wounded two people on Monday, the Taliban's interior ministry said, just two days after a similar explosion that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group.
