US, 20/05/12 - US President Barack Obama, wrapping up the Group of Eight leading economies summit he hosted at Camp David, has said that the eurozone crisis is a threat to the world economy but welcomed Europe's new focus on jobs and growth as a potential remedy.

US, 20/05/12 - Three protesters arrested in a late-night raid days before the start of this weekend's 60-nation NATO summit in Chicago have been charged with terrorism for possession of explosive devices, police and their attorney have said.

US, 19/05/12 - The US plans to give Israel the extra $70m that it asked for this year for its short-range missile defence programme known as the "Iron Dome," Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary has said.

China, 19/05/20 - A Chinese court has handed a sentence of life in jail to the boss of a huge smuggling and bribery scam who was at the centre of a lengthy deportation battle with Canada, state media has said.

Australia, 19/05/12 - An inquiry into people-smugglers serving sentences in Australian prisons has revealed that at least three of them may have been children when they were apprehended.

Vietnam, 19/05/12 - A crowded bus has plunged into a river bank in central Vietnam, killing 34 people and injuring 21 others in one of the country's deadliest road accidents.

North Korea, 19/05/12 - A UN panel of experts that monitors compliance with sanctions on North Korea is investigating reports of possible weapons-related shipments by Pyongyang to Syria and Myanmar, the panel said in a confidential report.