The United States is using quiet diplomacy to persuade the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other Asian nations not to move aggressively to capitalize on an international court ruling that denied China's claims to the South China Sea, several US administration officials said on July 13.

The European Commission proposed more unified EU asylum rules on July 13, in a bid to stop people waiting for refugee status moving around the bloc and disrupting its passport-free zone.

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton extended her lead over Republican rival Donald Trump to 13 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on July 12, up from 10 points at the end of last week.

German leaders stepped up the pressure on Britain's incoming prime minister Theresa May on July 12 by demanding she swiftly spell out when she will launch divorce proceedings with the European Union.

The flow of refugees and migrants to Europe has slowed since April when the European Union sealed a deal with Turkey to halt illegal traffic across the Aegean Sea, the region's border agency chief said on July 12.

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said July 12 she welcomes an international tribunal's ruling denying China's claims in the South China Sea, saying the waters were "critical" to the US economy.

At least nine people were killed and 32 wounded on July 12 when a car packed with explosives was detonated in a district just north of Baghdad, security and medical sources said.

An arbitration court in The Hague will rule on July 12 in a dispute about the South China Sea in which the Philippines is challenging China's right to exploit resources across vast swathes of the strategic territory.

The United States is stepping up its military campaign against Islamic State by sending hundreds more troops to assist Iraqi forces in an expected push on the city of Mosul, the militants' largest stronghold, later this year.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps on July 11 dispatched five military vessels to monitor a US warship hosting one of America's top generals on a day trip through the Strait of Hormuz, coming as close as 500 yards (meters).