The United States expressed its hope on Tuesday to question the detained three wives of Osama bin Laden although Pakistani officials played down the possibility of any speedy access, saying no decision had been made.

The Indonesian government has ratified an ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free Trade agreement, said Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa on May 10.

US Attorney General Eric Holder said on May 9 the US would close the Guantanamo Bay facility holding terrorism suspects in Cuba, despite missing a previous deadline to do so.

New NATO airstrikes shook Tripoli early May 10 after the alliance's secretary-general dismissed complaints that the allied campaign against longtime Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi had fallen into a stalemate.

Yemeni forces fired at protesters blockading a government building on May 9, killing a shopkeeper and three protesters in Taiz, a city that has seen some of the largest demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, witnesses said.

Crude oil prices have recovered after commodity market rout on May 5.

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej approved the prime minister's request to dissolve the lower chamber of that country's Parliament on May 9, setting the stage for new elections, a government spokesman said.

Officials in the Philippines have told residents to stay away from hillsides prone to slips after 11 people were killed by Tropical Storm Aere.

The two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) high-level conference on food security on May 9 opened here to discuss current situation on food security and future cooperation between the two regions.

Heavy shooting has been heard in a western suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, after the army cordoned off the area, human rights activists say.