China has granted licenses to import gold to two foreign banks for the first time, sources said, as moves to open the world's biggest physical bullion market gather pace

• January 15, 2014

China called on the IMF on Wednesday to stick to a commitment to give emerging markets more power at the world body after U.S. lawmakers set back historic reforms that would give developing countries a greater say.

• January 15, 2014

A U.S. journalist and author critical of President Vladimir Putin says he has been barred from Russia, a move that has echoes of the Cold War and could strain relations with the United States.

• January 14, 2014

Euro zone industrial production rose in November at its fastest pace in nearly four years, in an encouraging signal that the bloc's economic recovery strengthened in the final quarter of 2013.

• January 14, 2014

Less than a month before the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian investigators appealed to civilians on Tuesday to be more vigilant and help avert the threat of "terrorist" attacks.

• January 14, 2014

China reported one more death from the H7N9 strain of bird flu in southwestern Guizhou province, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday, in the second death from the virus in the past week.

• January 13, 2014

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin said on Monday, and a diplomatic source said they were likely to sign a nuclear cooperation deal.

• January 13, 2014

The coming weeks will tell whether Francois Hollande can pick up the pieces of his accident-prone presidency and start to pull the euro zone's second-largest economy out of decline. It may be his last chance to do so.

• January 13, 2014