WASHINGTON -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Monday announced her intention to appoint Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, as the institution's chief economist.

Gourinchas, who joined the UC Berkeley in 2003, is currently the faculty director of the Clausen Center for International Business & Policy. He was also assistant professor of economics at the Princeton University and the Stanford University. (IMF-Chief Economist-Gourinchas)

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GENEVA -- A new round of security talks between the United States and Russia concluded Monday evening in Geneva without yielding any diplomatic breakthrough.

While the U.S. side called the latest talks between the two major global powers "our diplomacy in pursuit of a de-escalation with Russia," the Russian side called the talks U.S.-Russia "security guarantees negotiations." (US-Russia-Talks)

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KHARTOUM -- Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council on Monday welcomed the United Nations (UN) initiative to facilitate a comprehensive dialogue among the Sudanese parties to end the ongoing political crisis in the country.

The council made its stand clear during a meeting held at the Republican Palace, chaired by the council's Chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the council said in a statement. (Sudan-Political Crisis-UN)

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JERUSALEM -- Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced on Sunday night that he has been tested positive for COVID-19.

The minister is feeling well and staying in quarantine at his home after he was diagnosed with the virus earlier on Sunday, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported. (Israel-FM-COVID19)