A trade deal between Britain and the United States could take five to 10 years to negotiate if Britain votes to leave the European Union at a June 23 referendum, US President Barack Obama told the BBC in an interview broadcast on April 24.

Germany is seeking the creation of "safe zones" to shelter refugees in Syria, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on April 23, an idea Turkey has long championed in the face of UN caution.

At least 12 people were killed on April 23 in two separate car bomb attacks in Baghdad targeting security forces, police sources said.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on April 23, the Republic of Korea (RoK) said, amid concerns that the isolated state might conduct a nuclear test or a missile launch ahead of a ruling party meeting in May.

Malaysia, Australia and China have planned to open a ministerial meeting in June to discuss whether to continue with the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which went missing two years ago.

Panamanian investigators on April 22 raided a property used by Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of a massive leak of offshore financial data, removing bags full of shredded documents as evidence, a local prosecutor said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will try to soothe tensions over a deal meant to stem the flow of migrants to Europe when she visits Turkey this weekend.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria has vowed to take fragile peace talks into next week despite a walkout by the main armed opposition, a breakdown in a truce and signs that both sides are gearing up to escalate the five-year-old civil war.

The US pledged to work with Cambodia on maritime security at a meeting on April 21 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 

Queen Elizabeth greeted thousands of well-wishers from across Britain and beyond as she celebrated her 90th birthday on April 21, demonstrating the world's oldest monarch's intent to keep doing the job she has performed for more than six decades.