1. Obama lifts arms ban during visit

    U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday lifted a half-century-old ban on selling arms to Vietnam during his first visit to the country, looking to bolster a government seen as a crucial, though flawed partner in a region he’s tried to place at the center of his foreign policy legacy.

    China said it hopes developing ties between the United States and Vietnam will be conducive* to regional peace and stability.

    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks on China’s hopes for U.S.-Vietnamese ties when asked about the lifting of the arms embargo*.

    2. 18 girls killed in fire at school in Thailand

    A nighttime fire at a boarding school dormitory in northern Thailand killed 18 girls ranging from 5 to 12 years old, police and school officials said on Monday. Five others were injured.

    The two-story wooden structure, which caught fire on Sunday night, housed 38 girls, most of them belonging to the area’s ethnic minorities. Fifteen girls escaped without injuries. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

    Some of the students were still not asleep when the fire broke out and were able to raise the alarm, said Rewat Wassana, manager of the Pithakkaiat Witthaya School, to which the dorm is attached.

    3. Talks with South could prevent ‘war’

    North Korea on Saturday suggested holding a preparatory* meeting with South Korea ahead of proposed military talks between the two foes that it said could “prevent in advance a second Korean war.”

    The military dialogue had initially been offered by leader Kim Jung Un in his speech to a rare Congress of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party earlier this month, but Seoul dismissed it as posturing*.

    Pyongyang reiterated the offer on Friday, only to be rebuffed again by Seoul the same day.

    4. Indonesian volcano eruption kills 6

    THE death toll from a volcanic eruption* in western Indonesia has climbed to six, an official said on Sunday, with fears more could have been trapped by the hot ash.

    Three people also remain in a critical condition after Mount Sinabung, a highly active volcano on Sumatra island, unleashed a series of fresh eruptions on Saturday afternoon, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

    “Nine people were struck by the hot clouds. Six died, and three others remain critical with burns,” he said.

    5. EgyptAir jet vanishes after mid-air plunge

    An EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean* sea on Thursday after swerving* in mid-air and plunging from cruising* height. French President Francois Hollande confirmed the aircraft “came down and is lost.”

    Aircraft debris has been discovered close to the island of Karpathos, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday night, quoting Greek TV.

    Officials have yet to confirm the debris is from the missing EgyptAir flight MS804, it said.

    6. Montenegro NATO’s 29th member

    NATO was scheduled to sign an accession* agreement with Montenegro on Thursday, paving the way for the small Balkan country to become the transatlantic alliance’s 29th member state, alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said.

    Montenegro’s membership is “a clear sign that NATO countries continue to build stability and security in the western Balkans,” Stoltenberg said on May 18.

    The move also shows that “NATO’s door remains open,” he added, as the alliance prepares for a set-piece* summit in Warsaw in July which will sign off on a major NATO military revamp* agreed in response to the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s annexation* of Crimea in 2014.(SD-Agencies)