Egypt has committed more than 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) of land in the southern Sinai Peninsula to a planned mega-city and business zone unveiled by Saudi Arabia last October, a Saudi official told Reuters on Monday.

The territory along the Red Sea is part of a joint fund worth more than $10 billion and announced by the two countries late on Sunday during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Mohammed previously announced plans for the 26,500 square km zone, known as NEOM, at an international investment conference in Riyadh. Officials said public and private investment in the area was eventually expected to total $500 billion.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea North (DPRK) on Saturday threatened to “counter the U.S.” if the United States holds joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the drills would harm reconciliation efforts on the peninsula.

The United States is due to start joint exercises in early April, a South Korean presidential security adviser said this week according to Yonhap news agency - the latest in a series of drills that the north has regularly described as a threat.

South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday sought a 30-year jail term for former President Park Geun-Hye who was ousted last year amid an influence-peddling scandal that rocked the country’s business and political elite. Park, 66, was dismissed in March after being impeached and is standing trial on charges of bribery, abuse of power and coercion. She denies wrongdoing.

Government Forces Press Forward In Syria's Battered Ghouta

Government forces seized territory inside Syria's rebel enclave Eastern Ghouta Saturday, intensifying fighting as tens of thousands of civilians in the plagued enclave near Damascus awaited urgently needed aid.

The Government fighters are trying to advance inside Eastern Ghouta to cut off the main town of Douma and its surroundings in the north of the enclave, as well as isolate the southeastern area of Al-Marj, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

An unnamed United Nations Security Council diplomat has told CNN that North Korea has been sending supplies to Syria that could be used to produce chemical weapons.  According to the report, the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said that North Korea had sent acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers to Syria. The diplomat was citing a report on North Korea authored by a UN panel of experts.

China’s ruling Communist Party on Sunday set the stage for President Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely, with a proposal to remove a constitutional clause limiting presidential service to just two terms in office.

Since taking office more than five years ago, Xi has overseen a radical shake-up of the party, including taking down top leaders once thought untouchable as part of his popular war on deep-rooted corruption.