Russia said on February 13 a Syria ceasefire plan was more likely to fail than succeed, as Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes took rebel ground near Aleppo and set their sights on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa province.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Don Pramudwinai has visited the ASEAN Secretariat, seeking to carry out the next steps after the launch of the ASEAN Community at the end of last year.

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation on February 12 broadening sanctions to punish the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its nuclear program, human rights record and cyber crimes, and sent the measure to President Barack Obama to sign into law.

 A referendum on Thailand’s new constitution will be held on July 31, announced Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.

Saudi Arabia, which is leading air strikes against rebels in neighboring Yemen, has warned the United Nations and international aid groups to protect staff by removing them from areas held by Yemen's Houthi rebels, according to a letter that was seen by Reuters on February 11.

Russia is ready to sell civil airliners to Iraq and keep providing it with military aid to fight Islamic State, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on February 11, accompanied on a trip to Baghdad by the biggest Russian delegation in years.

Major powers agreed on February 12 to a cessation of hostilities in Syria set to begin in a week and to provide rapid humanitarian access to besieged Syrian towns, but failed to secure a complete ceasefire or an end to Russian bombing.

Kurdish-led fighters aided by Russian bombing captured a rebel-held former Syrian military airport near the border with Turkey, a monitor and rebels said on February 11.

Two female suicide bombers killed more than 60 people at a camp for people displaced by an insurgency of the jihadist Boko Haram group in the northeast Nigerian town of Dikwa, military and emergency officials said on February 10.

World powers pressed Russia on February 10 to stop bombing around Aleppo in support of a Syrian government offensive to recapture the city and a Western official said Moscow had presented a proposal envisaging a truce in three weeks' time.