Iran detained 10 US sailors aboard two US Navy boats in the Gulf on January 12 in an incident that rattled nerves days ahead of the expected implementation of a landmark nuclear accord with Tehran.

President Barack Obama on January 12 urged US leaders to "fix our politics" and lift Americans' standard of living in a final State of the Union speech designed to contrast his vision for the country with Republican presidential campaign rhetoric.

A suicide bomber thought to have crossed recently from Syria killed at least 10 people, most of them German tourists, in Istanbul's historic heart on January 12, in an attack Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed on Islamic State.

The Philippines’ Supreme Court on January 12 declared a security deal with the United States constitutional, allowing an increased US military presence in the country.

Thailand’s media has raised strong objections to China’s test landing of planes on an airstrip illegally built on Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) Reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, saying this action escalates tensions and instabilities in the region.

Myanmar’s the first ever Union Peace Conference is taking place in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw, from January 12 -16.

Some terror groups in the Philippines have merged to form a satellite extension of the proclaimed Islamic State (IS) in Mindanao, according to Russia’s TASS News Agency.

(VOV5) - European countries have strengthened the control of migrants after a series of women in Cologne, Germany were attacked by a number of migrants from Middle East and North African countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Syria needs to start working on a new constitution as a first step to finding a political solution to its civil war, though he acknowledged the process was likely to be difficult.

Gunmen detonated suicide vests inside a shopping complex in Baghdad on January 11 and a car bomb exploded nearby in an attack claimed by Islamic State that killed at least 18 people and wounded 40 others.