NORTH KOREA: Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered humanitarian assistance to help North Korea cope with damage from recent floods, it was reported today.

In a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, Mr Putin “extended deep sympathy and support” and said he was willing to provide immediate disaster aid to help North Korea recover, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday.

PHILIPPINES: Germany and the Philippines agreed today to rapidly finalise a defence pact that would allow joint military training and possible sale of German weapons to address security threats in the South China Sea.

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the proposed arrangement on defence co-operation that he and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius discussed in talks in the capital, Manila, could be concluded as early as this year.

GULF OF ADEN: A missile attack by forces from Yemen’s Houthi-led government has struck a Liberian-flagged container ship travelling through the Gulf of Aden, authorities said today.

This was the first assault since the group was targeted by Israeli air strikes and came after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran.

The Yemenis have separately claimed to have shot down a United States military spy drone, although this has yet to be confirmed.

VIETNAM: President To Lam was confirmed as the new general secretary of the country’s Communist Party on Saturday after his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong, died on July 19.

In his first speech as Communist Party leader Mr Lam said he was taking the reins because of “an urgent need to ensure the leadership of the party.”