US President Barack Obama met Saudi Arabia's King Salman on April 20 to seek joint action on security threats including Iran and Islamic State - and to talk through tensions between the two allies that have been laid bare in recent weeks.

The death toll from Ecuador's weekend earthquake surpassed 500 and rescue efforts ebbed on April 20 as the traumatized Andean nation braced itself for long and costly rebuilding.

Syria's fragile peace talks might not resume for at least a year if they are abandoned now, a senior Western diplomat warned on April 20, as the opposition urged more military support for rebels after declaring a truce was over.

Malaysia advocates the importance of multilateralism and regional cooperation as well as networks of diplomatic relations to collectively address emerging security challenges, said Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi. 

At least 21 people including nine children died after a boat capsized off the coast of Myanmar’s Rakhine state on April 19, said Pierre Peron, spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Myanmar.

The first session of the 8th Lao National Assembly (NA) is taking place in Vientiane from April 20 to 23, with the personnel issue and structure of the Government and judicial agencies top of the agenda.

ASEAN nations should work together to tackle cross-border crime, said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak at the Defence Services Asia Exhibition & Conference 2016 in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Raul Castro was re-elected as the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) at the Party’s seventh national congress in Havana. 

Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro emerged from seclusion on April 19 to muse about death and provide encouragement to his followers, in a rare speech at the closing of a Communist Party congress in Havana.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unlikely to call a snap election after deadly earthquakes on southern Kyushu island and may postpone ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement until the next session of parliament, the Sankei newspaper reported on April 20.