Cuba condemns U.S. arrest warrant for Raul Castro
Cuba's government on Monday condemned an arrest warrant issued by the U.S. state of Florida for former Cuban President Raul Castro, calling it a senseless legal ploy linked to Washington's blockade of the island.
"This reprehensible action against the Army General this morning in a pathetic Miami circus, with an electoral backdrop, has no, nor will it ever have, the slightest legal sense and even less practical sense," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a post on social media platform X.
The arrest warrant is a political ploy in legal guise orchestrated by anti-Cuban politicians against Raul and against Cuba, said Diaz-Canel.
He added that the measure "reflects the difficulties they (the United States) face in trying to justify the blockade and the collective punishment of our people."
Houthis claim new attacks on Saudi Arabia as Riyadh postpones its flagship investment conference
Yemen's Houthi group said Monday it had carried out six attacks against oil, aviation and military targets in Saudi Arabia over the past 48 hours, as security concerns prompted the kingdom to postpone its flagship investment conference originally scheduled for later this month.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement that the first attack targeted facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, claiming the strikes hit the targets and caused fires.
The second targeted the Shaybah oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia and caused fires, Sarea claimed.
Other attacks targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia, radar installations at Jabal Al-Hisn and Jabal Al-Rahmah, King Khalid Air Base near Khamis Mushait, a Saudi naval task force camp, and a radar installation in the southern Najran region, he alleged.
The six operations were in response to more than 200 Saudi air and missile strikes on Sanaa and other Houthi-held areas of Yemen over the past 48 hours, he said.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia or the Saudi-led coalition.
The latest claims came amid continued cross-border attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, alongside heavy fighting between the group and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
Iran's president meets Russian FM, says Tehran rejects imposition of demands by force
Tehran will not accept that another country would seek to impose its will and demands on other nations through force and pressure, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a meeting with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Tehran on Monday.
Citing U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, Pezeshkian said assassinating its leadership, military commanders, nuclear scientists and students, and hitting infrastructure defies all legal and moral standards, especially while Tehran was still negotiating with Washington.
Iran has no fundamental dispute with other countries of the West Asia region and is prepared to resolve existing issues and challenges through dialogue, Pezeshkian said, according to a statement published on the website of his office.
Lavrov, for his part, highlighted Russia-Iran alignment on global issues, stressing the need to press ahead with diplomatic talks and tap existing capabilities to bolster peace and security, the statement said.
Support for Japan's Takaichi cabinet falls below 50 pct to record low: poll
Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration fell to 49.1 percent, the lowest level since she took office in October last year and the first time the figure has dropped below 50 percent, according to a poll released by Kyodo News on Sunday.
The nationwide telephone survey was conducted on Saturday and Sunday, with the cabinet's approval rating falling 4.3 percentage points from the previous month.
The disapproval rating rose to 33 percent from 30.9 percent, the poll showed.
The decline in public support comes amid mounting controversy over scandals involving cabinet members, including former agriculture minister Kazuo Yana, who was dismissed following criticism over inappropriate remarks and alleged violations of the Public Offices Election Act.
Daytime gatherings, demonstrations banned in France's Marseille
Gatherings and demonstrations throughout the French city of Marseille will be banned from noon to 8 p.m. local time Monday (1800 GMT), the police prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhone in southern France said in a post on X.
Local authorities recorded more than 30,000 people involved in looting in Marseille on Saturday during demonstrations, according to French news channel BFM TV.
In Paris, the entrance to the Louvre Museum was blocked by student protesters on Monday morning, French daily Le Parisien reported, citing the museum's management and two trade unions.
According to the trade union General Confederation of Labour, the museum would remain closed at least until noon.
Around 550,000 people took part in protests across France on Saturday. A total of 2,397 people were arrested during the protests, which were marred by violence, according to figures released by the French Interior Ministry on Sunday. A total of 997 police officers and gendarmes were injured, seven of them seriously.
China's Q3 economy picks up pace, reinforcing role as global growth engine
China's economy picked up pace in the third quarter (Q3) of 2026, supported by fast-growing new drivers and fresh policy support, staying on track to meet its annual growth target and remaining a leading engine of global growth.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5 percent year on year in Q3, higher than the second quarter's reading of 4.3 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.
The world's second-largest economy generated about 107.11 trillion yuan (about 15.94 trillion U.S. dollars) in output during the January-September period, expanding 4.6 percent year on year, according to the NBS.
"The national economy forged ahead against pressure and continued to shift toward innovation-driven, high-quality development, with growing positive changes in major indicators," the NBS said in a statement. ■
