The Philippine Government strongly protests China’s construction and operation of two lighthouses on artificial islands in the East Sea, the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs said on October 19. 

Iran's nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said on October 19 he expected a deal with six world powers on shrinking Tehran's atomic program in exchange for sanctions relief to be implemented by year-end.

At least two people were killed and five other wounded in a bombing in Saiburi district, Pattani, southern Thailand, on October 19.

China’s construction on islands in disputed East Sea areas is “unwarranted provocation”, Malaysian armed forces chief Zulkefli Mohd Zin said at a security forum in Beijing on October 18. 

Many Egyptian voters shunned the first phase of a parliamentary election on October 18 that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has hailed as a milestone on the road to democracy but his critics have branded as a sham.

The United States approved conditional sanctions waivers for Iran on October 18, though it cautioned they would not take effect until Tehran has curbed its nuclear program as required under a historic nuclear deal reached in Vienna on July 14.

Eight bodies have been recovered from a rubber boat carrying migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean, the Italian navy said in a Tweet on October 18.

A Palestinian gunman went on a shooting rampage at the central bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on October 18, killing a soldier and wounding 11 other people, police said.

A Vietnamese Party delegation joined representatives from political parties from 14 ASEAN member states and partners at an ASEAN conference on women’s participation in politics held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 17. 

Israel and the United States have resumed talks on future defense aid that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended in protest at the Iran nuclear deal, the Israeli ambassador to Washington said on October 18.

Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah and Iranian fighters made advances on October 17 in their offensive to retake territory around the northern city of Aleppo from insurgents and jihadist fighters, a monitoring group said.

Israeli authorities said four Palestinians had been shot dead and a fifth seriously injured in thwarted knife attacks on October 17 in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank as tensions ran high after more than two weeks of unrest.

Yemen's Saudi-backed government said on October 17 it was studying an invitation from the United Nations to attend talks aimed at ending a war between a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi militiamen who control much of the country including the capital.

Palestinians set fire to a Jewish shrine in the occupied West Bank, and an attacker disguised as a journalist stabbed an Israeli soldier on October 16 as tensions ran high after more than two weeks of violence.

US President Barack Obama and the Republic of Korea's President Park Geun-hye said on October 16 they were open to negotiations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on sanctions but Pyongyang needed to show it was serious about abandoning its nuclear weapons program.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are both crucial for multilateral trade development, Indonesian Minister of Trade Thomas Lembong said at the 2015 Asian Economic Forum held in Jakarta on October 15.

Myanmar's government signed its long-awaited Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with eight of 15 rebel forces on October 15. 

Syrian troops and their allies, backed by Russian jets, attacked rebel-held towns north of the city of Homs on October 15, targeting a long-held and strategic enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

Reversing policy on Afghanistan, President Barack Obama announced on October 15 he will prolong the 14-year-old US military engagement there, effectively handing off the task of pulling out troops to his successor.

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) of Thailand will present the country’s economic and social development model following the sufficiency economy philosophy at an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Cambodia and the Republic of Korea (RoK) have agreed to boost bilateral cooperation across fields of education, trade, investment and tourism, according to Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Chum Sounry. 

US Vice President Joe Biden faced an altered political dynamic on October 14 after Hillary Clinton reasserted her command of the Democratic Party presidential race during a debate that may have left little room for him to run.

Challenges and opportunities to be brought about by the creation of the ASEAN Community at the end of this year were discussed by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong during a meeting with young people in Phnom Penh on October 14.

The United States is sending 300 US troops, along with surveillance drones, to Cameroon to bolster a West African effort to counter the Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, US officials said on October 14.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on October 14 Moscow was helping the fight against Islamist insurgents in Iraq with the consent of the Baghdad government.

Singapore and China on October 13 agreed to new initiatives to further promote the international use of Chinese yuan through Singapore.

Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, a former diplomat and criminal justice expert from Thailand, took his oath on October 12 as the new Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

The Taliban said they were pulling back in the northern city of Kunduz on October 13 in order to protect civilians, but fighting continued elsewhere in the country with government troops battling to reopen the main highway south of the capital Kabul.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded on October 13 in its final report on the crash in July 2014 that killed all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch.

A missile test announced by Iran over the weekend was an apparent violation of a UN Security Council resolution and Washington will raise the incident at the United Nations, the US State Department said October 13.