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.

Russian and NATO envoys are unlikely to ease the worst tensions since the Cold War very much when they meet on April 20 in their highest-level talks on security in almost two years.

The Thai military-run government will disapprove any campaign in the run-up to the August referendum on a new constitution that it hopes to stablise the country’s politics, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on April 19.

Syrian peace talks appeared all but doomed on April 19 after air strikes killed about 40 people in a crowded vegetable market in rebel territory, with the opposition saying a truce was finished and it would keep out of negotiations indefinitely.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on April 19 discussed ways of ensuring that last year's historic nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers is implemented the way it was originally envisioned.

Laos and the Philippines will work together to find measures to boost mutually beneficial ties in trade, investment, education and aviation services.

The death toll from a Taliban attack on a government security agency's building in the Afghan capital on April 19 has risen to at least 28, the Kabul police chief said, with more than 320 wounded.

Singapore will scan and record the fingerprints of all travellers aged six and above entering or exiting the country from April 20, including Singaporean citizens, said the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) on April 18.

Syrian peace talks came close to collapse on April 18, with the mainstream opposition announcing a pause in talks at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, although it agreed to keep its negotiating team in the city.

The United States will send more troops to Iraq and will put them closer to the front lines of battle there to advise Iraqi forces in the war against Islamic State militants. 

Touring a city ravaged by the earthquake that killed at least 413 people, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on April 18 contemplated a rebuilding costing billions of dollars and a potentially "huge" impact on the fragile OPEC economy.

ASEAN Foreign Ministers on April 17 issued a statement on the recent earthquakes in some countries worldwide.

Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on April 18 said the new government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) will begin to build new good things for a change starting from the New Year.

Three Southeast Asian countries – Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia are among the next target of attacks by the self-claimed Islamic State (IS), according to local newspapers.

The United States will respond strongly in the case of a further Democratic People's Republic of Korean (DPRK) nuclear test, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 18.

VOV.VN - After the Panama Papers Scandal, countries around the world are intensifying the fight against tax avoidance.

VOV.VN -China’s recent artificial island building and militarization of facilities in the East Sea have alarmed the international community and ASEAN countries in particular.

The death toll from a raid carried out by South Sudanese gunmen in western Ethiopia has risen to 208 people and the assailants kidnapped 108 children, an Ethiopian official said on April 17.

The death toll from Ecuador's biggest earthquake in decades soared to 262 on April 17 as survivors cobbled together makeshift coffins to bury loved ones, lined up for water and sought shelter beside the rubble of their shattered homes.

A powerful earthquake killed at least 77 people, injured hundreds more, ravaged coastal towns and sent residents fleeing for higher ground in Ecuador on April 16 night.

Pope Francis took three families of Syrian refugees back to Rome on April 16 after visiting the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis at a camp in Greece where migrants wept at his feet, kissed his hand and begged for help.