ASEAN and the world

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is paying a two-day visit to Algeria from June 12th, the Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Republic of Korea is expected to face difficulties in achieving an annual economic growth of 3 percent this year, experts have said.

(CPV) - ADB approved a USD2 million grant to finance relief efforts in the country following the recent floods and landslides that claimed the lives of over 200 people and damaged the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands more.

The flow of international tourists to Thailand rose 4.6 percent in May from one year ago, the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported on June 12th.

Torrential rain lashed large parts of Maharashtra and Mumbai from June 9th, claiming at least 16 lives and injuring eight people.

President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique En Marche (LREM)'s political movement won a majority with 32.32% of the vote in the first round of legislative elections, results show on June 12th.

Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) on June 9th announced that two Zika transmitted cases have been confirmed in Parry Avenue area, bringing the total number of reported cases in the country to eight this year.

The US Special Operation Forces are assisting the Philippine military in operations against the Islamist militants, the US Embassy in Manila confirmed on June 10th.

The US Embassy in Vietnam has celebrated the World Oceans Day in Hanoi on June 7th, with an event themed "Our Oceans, Our Future".

Separatist groups in Southeast Asia is posing a clear and present danger to Singapore, said the country’s Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong on June 10th during an interview with Australia’s National Radio ABC.

Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) on June 9th announced that two cases of Zika-local transmitted have been confirmed in Parry Avenue area, bringing the total number of reported cases in the country to eight this year.

The Myanmar Investment Forum (MIF) 2017 took place in the country’s capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on June 7th-8th to seek ways to increase foreign investment for its economic development.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung has called on ASEAN member countries to deeply understand opportunities and challenges amid rapid changes in the region and the world in order to seek solutions for fulfilling the group’s major objectives.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited Argentina before heading to Mexico.

Canada will provide 20 million CAD (14 million USD) to help Myanmar implement two initiatives on climate change adaptation and social development in the next five years.

(CPV) - The EU Commission opened a public debate on the future direction of defence in an EU of 27.

India, currently experiencing a deadly heat wave, is seeing increasing frequency of extreme summer weather events in recent years.

The 35th session of UN Human Rights Council opened in Geneva, Switzerland on June 6th.

Authorities of the Republic of Korea (RoK) on June 6th has confirmed that the H5N8 strain was detected in Paju city, Gyeonggi.

On June 6th, the Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, has been elected the 40th Prime Minister of Nepal.

(CPV) - Indian and Nepali senior customs and trade officials met in Mumbai on June 6th 2017 to discuss ways to ease traffic-in-transit along the route from Kolkata to four major customs points of Nepal, including Raxaul, through an electronic tracking system.

Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resource Ministry spokesperson Sujatmiko on June 6 said the country has sent a letter to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) requesting to reactivate its membership in the group.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique Manalo said on June 5th that Asian countries will likely agree on a code of conduct for the East Sea (COC) when regional leaders meet for a summit in November, the online newspaper nikkei.com reported.

Montenegro has become the 29th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

On June 4th, Paris’ Eiffel Tower lights were turned off to honour the victims of the London terror attack on Saturday (June 3rd).

On June 5th, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and and Secretary of Defense James Mattis landed in Sydney for meetings with their Australian counterparts.

The Japan Times has covered the Japan visit by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from June 6th-8th, saying that it will be the largest Vietnamese delegation to the country comprising Ministers, Deputy Ministers, lawmakers, municipal and provincial leaders and more than 100 business people.

The campaign for the communal elections in Cambodia finished on June 2nd, two days ahead of the June 4th elections.

Bolivia has taken up the presidency of the UN Security Council, replacing Uruguay.

The UN General Assembly has elected Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak to be its next President.