US Defense Secretary Ash Carter met a top Chinese general on June 11 and repeated a US call for a halt to land reclamation in the East Sea while stressing that the Pentagon remained committed to expanding military contacts with China.

The Republic of Korea (RoK)'s health ministry on June 11 reported 14 new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), taking the total to 122 in an outbreak that is the largest outside Saudi Arabia.

Differences between the United States and China over the East Sea and cyber security should not be addressed by "microphone diplomacy" but in "a proper way" to allow for a successful US visit by President Xi Jinping this year, a senior Chinese diplomat said on June 10.

A stern Pope Francis urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 10 to make a "sincere and great effort" to achieve peace in Ukraine.

President Barack Obama on June 10 ordered the deployment of 450 more US troops to Iraq's Sunni heartland to advise and assist fragile Iraqi forces being built up to try to retake territory lost to Islamic State.

A joint RoK-World Health Organization mission studying an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) recommended on June 10 that schools be reopened, as they were unlikely to spread the disease, just as school boards recommended more be shut.

America's top general sought to reassure Israel on June 9 of "unshakable" US military support, despite deep strains in political relations over the prospect of a US-led nuclear deal with Iran and differences over Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

The Obama administration is considering setting up a new military base in Iraq's Anbar province.

President Vladimir Putin will be on the lookout for signs of dissent over European Union sanctions on Russia when he visits Italy on June 10, but he is likely to be disappointed.

HSBC will shed almost 50,000 jobs and take an ax to its investment bank, cutting the assets of Europe's biggest lender by a quarter in a bid to simplify and improve its sluggish performance.