The advanced figure for U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment insurance claims was 370,000 for the week of May 13, according to a May 24 U.S. Department of Labor statement. There was a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will visit Vietnam and India after a May 30 visit to Singapore, a Pentagon spokesman said, Vietnam Net reported May 24. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Panetta will discuss U.S.

EU leaders have told European Council President Herman Van Rompuy to draft a plan to deepen the eurozone's economic union, possibly by way of an inter-governmental treaty, EU Observer reported May 24.

French President Francois Hollande wants eurobonds to be written into the agenda of the European Union moving forward, Hollande said May 24, AFP reported. Eurobonds would allow countries to mutualize future debt and access financing more easily on money markets, Hollande said, adding that this would allow governments to finance investments.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed back to June 6 a visit to Kazakhstan, Trend reported May 24, citing Kommersant. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev will visit Astana on May 25 instead of Putin, who is planning to first pay his first official visit to Belarus.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague will visit Moscow on May 28, an unnamed diplomatic source said May 24, Itar-Tass reported. Hague will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and they will discuss a range of issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and the Iranian nuclear program.

Police in Yunnan province's Zhaotong city have interrogated Communist Party members who issued a public call last week for the ouster of Zhou Yongkang, head of the party's Politics and Law Commission, two members said, AFP reported May 24. Lead authors Yu Yongking and Zhou Zhengrong were questioned.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will lead a delegation of top diplomatic and intelligence officials to Islamabad on May 29, The Express Tribune reported May 24. The delegation will undertake wide-ranging talks with Pakistan's civilian and military leadership, an unnamed Foreign Office official said.

Syrian National Council (SNC) head Burhan Ghalioun formally resigned, an SNC statement said May 24, AFP reported. The SNC said Ghalioun will continue his work until a new leader is elected June 9-10.

At least five people were killed as U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles fired two missiles at a house in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan [1] early May 24, Xinhua reported, citing local media. [1] http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/north-waziristan-and-us-strategy-afghanistan