The United States formally dropped Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism on May 29, an important step toward restoring diplomatic ties but one that will have limited effect on removing US sanctions on the Communist-ruled island.

The European Union (EU) has signed an agreement on the implementation of the European Development Cooperation Strategy for Cambodia for 2014-2020, providing US$460 million in financial assistance.

The Royal Thai Navy has launched offshore operations to help Rohingya migrants and victims of human trafficking stranded at sea. 

ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance, a regional bloc comprising Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, met at the ASEAN Secretariat head quarters in Jakarta on 25 May to enhance cooperation between the two regional organisations.

Greece's government on May 27 said it is starting to draft an agreement with creditors that would pave the way for aid, but European officials quickly dismissed that as wishful thinking.

The United Nations (UN) and Myanmar have vowed joint efforts to tackle illegal “boat people” issue both nationally and regionally.

Iraq's Shi'ite paramilitaries said on May 26 they had taken charge of the campaign to drive Islamic State from the western province of Anbar, giving the operation an openly sectarian codename that could infuriate its Sunni Muslim population.

Minister of Interior Gen Anupong Paojinda has approved the pending residency requests from foreigners, creating confidence towards foreigners who are seeking legal employments and investments in Thailand.

Malaysia and Japan agreed to raise their bilateral ties to strategic partnership following talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his visiting Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, in Tokyo on May 25.

Greece intends to make good on its debt obligations but needs aid urgently to be able to do so, the government said on May 25.

President Barack Obama heralded the first US Memorial Day in 14 years without a major ground war in an annual ceremony of remembrance on May 25 for fallen American forces.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook Tokyo and surrounding areas on May 25, but no tsunami warning was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on May 24, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra.

Saudi forces and Yemen's Houthi militia traded heavy artillery fire which blew up part of the main border crossing between the two countries overnight, residents said on May 24, an escalation of the two-month war.

Shi'ite Muslim militiamen and Iraqi army forces launched a counter-offensive against Islamic State insurgents near Ramadi on May 23, a militia spokesman said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the United States for blocking an Egyptian-led drive on a possible Middle East nuclear weapons ban at a major United Nations conference, an Israeli official said on May 23.

Cuba and the United States reported making progress toward restoring diplomatic relations following two days of talks and pledged on May 22 to continue informal negotiations in the coming weeks.

A suicide bomber killed 21 worshippers on May 22 in a packed Shi'ite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, residents and the health minister said, the first attack in the kingdom to be claimed by Islamic State militants.

At least 44 people were killed on May 22 in a gunfight in western Mexico between government forces and suspected drug gang henchmen, officials said, one of the bloodiest days of violence to shake the country under President Enrique Pena Nieto.

President Barack Obama scored a major victory on May 22 when the US Senate voted to give him "fast-track" powers that would help wrap up negotiations on a 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal central to projecting American influence in Asia.

China said on May 22 it was "strongly dissatisfied" after a US spy plane flew over part of the East Sea this week near where China is building artificial islands, and called on the United States to stop such action or risk causing an accident.

Trade activities between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (RoK) will be promoted as the two sides have signed an agreement fostering their customs cooperation, announced the Korea Customs Service (KCS) on May 22.

(VOV) - The US-Chinese relationship has suffered from recent disputes in the East Sea. With China conducting activities intended to change the status of islands in the East Sea, Washington has expressed a tough attitude on the issue and defined red lines for China.

Islamic State fighters tightened their grip on the historic Syrian city of Palmyra on May 21 and overran Iraqi government defenses east of Ramadi, the provincial capital that they seized five days earlier.

Talks between the United States and Cuba will go into a second day on May 22 as the sides try to reach agreement on reopening embassies shut for more than half a century, the crucial next step in their historic detente.

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokesman called on Indonesia to address appropriately the issue of foreign fishing ships and fishermen supposedly operating in its waters in line with international law.

ASEAN and China should ‘expeditiously’ conclude the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) to ease tension in the region, Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen said. 

Australia and ASEAN on May 19 signed Amendment No. 6 to the Cooperation Arrangement between two sides on the ASEAN Agreement for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER)’s 2010-2015 Work Programme to extend it until the end of 2016.

Thailand’s general election planned for early 2016 will be delayed until August at the earliest, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam announced on May 19. 

The United States on May 19 indicated its willingness to change pro-democracy programs which it organizes in Cuba and which are condemned by Havana, removing one of the biggest impediments to restoring diplomatic ties.