ASEAN and the world

President Donald Trump has held his first meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House.

Norway is officially the world’s happiest country, according to the 2017 World Happiness Report, released on March 20th.

A wildfire near the University of Colorado in Boulder has led at least 1,000 residents to evacuate.

(CPV) - Voice actors from the upcoming animated movie Smurfs: The Lost Village joined officials from the United Nations, UNICEF and United Nations Foundation on March 18th 2017 at the world body’s headquarters in New York to celebrate International Day of Happiness with a campaign promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Republic of Korea (RoK) is preparing to salvage the Sewol ferry that sank nearly three years ago, killing more than 300 people.

The Republic of Korea has stepped up efforts to attract more tourists from Asian countries and ease its dependence on China for its tourism trade, according to Yonhap news agency.

The ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and the ASEAN Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM) took place in Manila, the Philippines from March 15th-16th to discuss preparations for the 30th ASEAN Summit.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on March 16th officially launched the ASEAN – China Year of Tourism.

Thailand’s Ministry of Energy and private sector are cooperating in the country’s development into a smart city, hoping to reduce power consumption in line with the Energy 4.0 policy.

The Ministry of Commerce is determined to increase the export of Thai rice to Mexico by 10,000 tons before the end of this year.

Former Senator Dan Coats has been formally confirmed as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence.

Winter Storm Stella has hit the northeastern United States with sleet and snow across the region.

Republic of Korea (RoK) Interior Minister Hong Yoon-shik has announced the nation's Presidential Election would be held on May 9th, to replace impeached leader Park Geun-hye.

Colombian Vice President German Vargas Lleras plans to step down March 15th to run in the 2018 presidential election.

Incumbent Hungarian President Janos Ader was re-elected as President by the Parliament for another five-year term.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop began a visit to three countries in ASEAN, including Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, from March 13th - 17th.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman visited Japan as part of his Asia tour.

(CPV) - A long-running program to improve the business environment in the Pacific has succeeded in removing numerous barriers to private sector investment and entrepreneurship, according to an ADB report released on March 13th 2017.

Japan has marked six years since the March 11th quake and tsunami disaster that caused the country’s worst nuclear accident in Fukushima.

United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make his first trip to Asia, in cluding Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and China, from March 15th .

The Philippine government and the left-wing rebels have agreed to resume the peace talks to end the 48-year-old insurgency in the Philippines, announced Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza on March 12th.

Indonesian police on March 10th said that the anti-terror squad Densus 88 arrested six alleged terrorists who were plotting attacks against police stations and banks in Tolitoli region of Central Sulawesi province.

Air transport officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have made the best effort to build up the ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASAM), which is seen as one of the key milestones in building the ASEAN Economic Community.

ASEAN economic ministers have agreed to work for considerable progress on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to prove ASEAN’s leadership in creating a regional partnership.

The European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced on March 10 that they will strive to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two blocs, as European countries look to tap the region's strong growth.

Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture has reported an outbreak of a highly contagious H5N1 bird flu virus in northern Kelantan.

Mr. Roberto Azevedo has won re-election as Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for the 2017-2021 period.

On March 8th, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) re-appointed Yukiya Amano as IAEA Director General.

Mr. Donald Tusk on March 9th was re-elected as the President of the European Council.

(CPV) - Finance ministers and senior officials from 15 developing economies across Asia and the Pacific met in Manila on March 8th 2017 to discuss enhanced economic and financial responses to climate change.