* Russia will soon ratify the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea signed by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan last year, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.
* The US federal budget deficit reached US$866.8 billion in the first 10 months of the fiscal year 2019, up by 27 percent from the previous year, the Treasury Department said on Monday.
* Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang said Monday that despite the geographical distance between China and Egypt, the two countries are bonded by mutual trust, support and understanding.
* German Chancellor Angela Merkel would stick to the principle of the black zero in the federal budget that avoided creating new debts for more climate protection measures, government spokesperson Steffen Seibert announced on Monday.
* Russia and the United States will carry out observation flights over each other's territories under the Treaty on Open Skies, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
* US President Donald Trump and Britain's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke over phone on Monday, discussing issues including trade and global security, said the White House in a statement.
* Two Tu-95MS strategic bombers of Russia have completed a scheduled flight over the waters of the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
* Ukrainian state-owned enterprise Lviv Armored Vehicle Plant, which is part of Ukroboronprom Group, has launched a serial modernization of the T-64 tanks of the 2017 model, Ukroboronprom Group's press service said Monday.
* Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim on Monday held a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry and discussed means to boost bilateral ties and find solutions for the regional crises.
* Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received on Monday the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Minna, Saudi Press Agency reported. The two sides reviewed the regional situations, especially in Yemen and efforts to tackle them.
* At least one person was killed and 29 others were wounded in a huge explosion at an ammunition depot in southern Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, a medical source said.
* A US delegation Monday arrived in Turkey to prepare for a Joint Operations Center on the planned Syrian safe zone, Turkish Defense Ministry said.
