Hungary's gas pipeline network operator FGSZ said on Monday that it will resume gas supplies to neighboring Ukraine, after suspending it indefinitely in September prompting criticism from Ukraine's state-owned gas firm Naftogaz.

"FGSZ Ltd will again secure gas supplies towards Ukraine from January 1, 2015," the company said in a short statement posted on their website on Monday.

Taiwan said Monday it was launching a project to build a fleet of its own submarines, after years spent waiting in vain for U.S. models.

The International Monetary Fund said Monday it was suspending financial aid to Greece under its huge rescue program until a new government is formed after elections slated for late January.

Oil prices rose in Asia Monday as fresh violence in Libya stoked concerns about possible supply disruptions, analysts said.

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose 46 cents to $55.19 while Brent crude for February gained 35 cents to $59.80 in late-afternoon trade.

Ukraine's parliament on Monday adopted an austerity budget that hikes import prices and shrinks social spending in order to balance the books under a plan backed by the International Monetary Fund.

The highly-disputed 2015 plan was pushed through by the government-led coalition after a marathon debate that ended after 4:00 am.

Lithuania hopes joining the eurozone on January 1 will boost its security at a time of heightened anxiety over Russia, but many in the Baltic state fear the currency switch will also bring price hikes.

The stroke of midnight will signal the end of a year marked by Russian intervention in Ukraine -- the biggest threat to the Baltic states since they broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union around a quarter of a century ago.

The euro edged up in Asia on Monday as lawmakers in debt-laden Greece embark on a final bid to elect a new president and avoid a snap election that could undermine its international bailout.

In Tokyo, the single currency strengthened to $1.2188 and 146.61 yen, from $1.2179 and 146.59 yen in New York on Friday.

Shares in AirAsia, Southeast Asia's biggest budget airline, lost almost nine percent in Kuala Lumpur Monday after one of its jets disappeared with 162 people on board.

But analysts said the impact on the low-cost sector would be limited owing to its popularity.

The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a fresh stimulus package worth $29 billion Saturday in a bid to boost the economy, hit hard by a tax hike.

The 3.5-trillion-yen package is designed to help the provincial economy, small businesses and the household sector, as well as to increase public spending to rebuild areas hit by natural disasters.

A towering dam in central China holds back a vast expanse of water destined to travel over 1,000 kilometers north to Beijing, but critics say it will only temporarily quench the city's thirst.

China's capital on Saturday received its first flows from the South-North Water Diversion Project, one of the most ambitious engineering projects in Chinese history.