Greece's parliament begins on June 27 to debate a deeply unpopular austerity plan which international lenders are demanding to see approved this week to avert the threat of bankruptcy.

There was a big explosion in Gaza City near a United Nations compound and Hamas offices on June 26.

Thailand’s newly-accredited Ambassador Sompong Sanguan Bun and Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on June 25 discussed a plan to organise a joint concert prior to September this year.

A suicide bomb attack targeting a hospital in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 35 people and wounded more than two dozen, a brazen strike that rocked a maternity ward and claimed the lives of numerous women and children.

Syria's military has moved into a village near the border with Turkey and a town near the boundary with Lebanon, activists say.

Egypt has dropped plans to seek loans from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Finance Minister Samir Radwan has said.

At least 15 people were killed in a car bomb attack at a hospital in Afghanistan's Logar province on June 25.

NATO has rejected a call from Italy to suspend hostilities in Libya. The alliance's chief, Anders Fogh-Rasmussen, tried to reassure wavering members that Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, can be beaten.

New York's state legislature gave final approval on June 24 to same-sex marriages, a key victory for gay rights ahead of the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

The first session of the seventh Lao National Assembly closed in Vientiane on June 24 after 10 days of sitting.