Vietnam is seeking to give bigger ownership to foreign stock investors in line with its international trade commitments, the country's finance minister said on June 9.

The Republic of Korea (RoK)'s health ministry said on June 9 there were eight new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), bringing the total to 95 but representing a sharp fall in the number of daily new cases from 23 reported a day earlier.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes have opened supply lines into Baiji town and its nearby oil refinery, making progress at last against Islamic State rebels in a seesaw battle that has gone on for months, the Pentagon said on June 8.

Leaders of the Group of Seven industrial nations pledged on June 8 to wipe out Ebola but offered little in terms of concrete action, disappointing non-governmental organizations.

Saudi-led air strikes killed at least 44 people during an air raid on the main headquarters of the Yemeni army in central Sanaa on June 7, the Houthi-run state news agency Saba said.

Group of Seven (G7) leaders vowed at a summit in the Bavarian Alps on June 7 to keep sanctions against Russia in place until President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-backed separatists fully implement the terms of a peace deal for Ukraine.

The Republic of Korean (RoK) health officials on June 7 reported 14 more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, bringing the total in the country's outbreak to 64, and said a fifth person infected with the virus had died.

Group of Seven leaders will express their concern over any unilateral action to change the status quo in the East China Sea and East Vietnam Sea amid tensions between China and a number of Asian countries, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper said on June 6.

The Philippines agreed to buy 150,000 tons of rice from Vietnam in a tender on June 5 and could import additional volumes to avert a potential spike in prices of the staple if adverse weather threatens the local crop.

The death toll from a Chinese cruise ship which capsized during a storm in the Yangtze River jumped to 331 on June 6, leaving around 100 still missing, as the boat operator apologized and said it would cooperate with investigations.