* US President Donald Trump pledged to quickly reach a trade deal with China. The US Department of the Treasury also affirmed that trade talks with China will continue.
* India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by another five years.
* Representatives of the Pacific Islands Forum met US Secretary-General António Guterres to discuss issues concerning development and climate change response in the region.
* The US has ordered a partial withdrawal of State Department employees from Iraq and suspended visa services at US diplomatic posts in the country.
* Jurin Laksanawisit has won an internal vote to become chairman of the Democrat Party of Thailand, filling the vacancy after Abhisit Vejjajiva resigned.
* The US has warned the European Union that plans to boost defence cooperation within the EU could undo decades of trans-Atlantic cooperation and damage NATO.
* At an event to mark 70 years since the signing of the German Basic Law, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for equal opportunities for everyone, including migrants, regardless of race and religion.
* Mexico and Canada believe that that can they negotiate with the US on the removal of tariffs on steel and aluminium, and reach a new deal called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
* Serbia’s Defence Ministry said Belgrade will not join NATO as long as President Aleksandar Vucic remains in power.
* Due to insufficient evidence, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice ordered the release of former president Michel Temer, who was charged with corruption and money laundering.
* Mexico’s environmental authorities declared an environmental emergency for metropolitan Mexico City as smoke from nearby wildfires pushed pollution to levels deemed potentially harmful to human health.
