Lao government officials and foreign diplomats on August 2 joined the locals in Vientiane in a walk to mark the 47th founding anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

 The scenery after Israel attacked Jabalia region in north Gaza. Vietnam calls on all parties concerned to respect the newly-reached ceasefire agreement in Gaza Strip, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh has said.

He said the co-ordinated actions of the US and European Union would "have an even bigger bite" on Russia's economy.

The leader of street protests which preceded Thailand's latest coup appeared in court on July 28 on a murder charge over a crackdown on opposition "Red Shirt" supporters four years ago.

Last week police identified a body found on 12 June as Yoo Byung-eun.

The United Nations said on Saturday that its experts had located the second black box from the Air Algerie flight that crashed in the West African country of Mali earlier this week. Debris is seen at the crash site of Air Algerie flight AH5017 near the northern Mali town of Gossi, July 24 (Source: Reuters) Initial evidence taken from the remote crash site indicates that the aircraft broke apart when it smashed to the ground early on Thursday morning, making an attack appear unlikely. The death toll of 118 includes 54 French citizens. French President Francois Hollande said on Friday that the first of the black box recorders had been found and would be analyzed. Hollande plans to meet family members of victims later on Saturday.                                                                                                                                                  Reuters

The tourism industry in Thailand will recover in the second half of this year and will reach its target of luring 26.2 million foreign visitors by the year-end, according to the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT).

  Mr Subianto held a live televised press conference on Tuesday to declare his withdrawal

Syrian government forces pounded rebels in Damascus overnight, battling to reverse opposition gains in the aftermath of the assassination of President Bashar al-Assad's security chiefs.

The Portuguese government on Monday announced a tough budget for 2013 which highlights sharp tax hikes.

The European Union (EU) banking supervisors published results of the much-anticipated banks stress tests on Friday, showing only 7 out of a total of 91 European banks failed the tests.