US President Barack Obama spoke by telephone on May 18 with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan about the war in Syria and efforts to defeat Islamic State militants, the White House said in a statement.

Nine Iraqi soldiers were killed and nine more wounded on May 18 when a house rigged with explosives blew up south of Baghdad during a raid of suspected Islamic State militants, two army sources said.

Trade ministers from 21 member economies of t he Asia – Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum gathered together at a meeting in Arequipa, Peru on May 17 to discuss the preparations for the formation of a free trade area in the region. 

The United States eased some sanctions on Myanmar on May 17 to support ongoing political reforms, but maintained most of its economic restrictions in an effort to punish those Washington sees as hampering the country's newly elected government.

Major power foreign ministers failed to agree a new date to resume Syrian peace talks at a meeting on May 17, and the opposition said it would not come back to Geneva negotiations unless conditions improved on the ground.

Groundwork is being laid for a resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and Maoist rebels, an aide to incoming President Rodrigo Duterte and a negotiator said on May 17, as a renewed push to end the conflict gathered pace.

VOV.VN - The US missile defense shield in Europe, which has just been activated after a decade of planning, adds more conflicts to the existing differences between the West and Russia.

At least 77 people were killed and more than 140 wounded by three bombings in Baghdad on May 17, extending the deadliest spate of attacks in the Iraqi capital so far this year and driving Shi'ite fighters into the streets to defend some areas.

Myanmar’s Union Parliament on May 16 approved the appointment of former permanent representative to the United Nations U Kyaw Tint Swe as Minister of the Office of State Counsellor.

The Philippines announced on May 17 that its patrol force had arrested three Vietnamese fishing vessels and two from China for illegal fishing in the country’s waters.