• North Korea fired a ballistic missile early on Sunday that flew 700 kilometers (430 miles), South Korea's military said, days after a new leader took office in the South pledging to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang.
Japan said the latest missile reached an altitude of more than 2,000 km (1,245 miles) and flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North Korea's east coast and Japan. The North has consistently test-fired missiles in that direction.
A missile fired by North Korea on Sunday morning reached an altitude of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,245miles) and could be a new type of a missile, Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that free trade is an important engine for development as he opened a summit on China's new Silk Road plan.
The world economy needs new drivers for development, Xi added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that protectionism is a threat to the global economy.
He was speaking at the opening of a summit on China's new Silk Road plan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday said Chinese banks will lend 380 billion yuan ($55.09 billion) to support Belt and Road cooperation, and China will also inject 100 billion yuan into a Silk Road Fund.
China encourages financial institutions to expand their overseas yuan fund businesses, and the overall scale is expected to reach 300 billion yuan, Xi said.
• The United States welcomed efforts by China to promote infrastructure connectivity as part of its Belt and Road initiative and U.S. companies can offer top value services, White House adviser Matt Pottinger said on Sunday.
• North Korea's attendance at China's biggest diplomatic event this year raised further eyebrows after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile early on Sunday, in defiance of calls to rein in its weapons program.
North Korea's delegation to the meeting on what China formally calls the Belt and Road initiative is being led by Kim Yong Jae, minister of external economic relations, according to the state run KCNA news agency, which has so far given no details of who he met or what he said.
The U.S. embassy in Beijing had submitted a diplomatic note to China's foreign ministry, saying that inviting North Korea sent the wrong message at a time when the world was trying to pressure Pyongyang over its repeated missile and nuclear tests, two sources with knowledge of the situation said.
• President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will move quickly to nominate a new FBI director, after he sparked a political firestorm by firing the man investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign.
• Oil prices held steady on Monday, supported by expectations that OPEC and Russia have agreed to extend a production cut beyond the first half of this year.
However, another rise in U.S. drilling activity weighed on markets.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $50.86 per barrel at 0125 GMT, little changed from their last close at $50.84.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were at $47.88 per barrel, also little changed from the last settlement at $47.84.
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