The flags of Russia, Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists flutter over a water tower building on one of the few stretches of the frontline in eastern Ukraine where peace has broken out.

• December 5, 2014

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted the $40 billion South Stream natural gas pipeline can still go ahead and accused Russia of holding EU-member Bulgaria to ransom when it said it had abandoned the project.

• December 4, 2014

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Thursday he expected his country's conflict to be long and difficult but vowed to defeat the insurgents battling to oust him and said he would not be driven from power.

• December 4, 2014

U.S. retailer Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) said on Thursday it will sell its struggling China business, Five Star, to domestic real estate firm Zhejiang Jiayuan Group in order to focus on its North American operations.

• December 4, 2014

U.S. and EU leaders will on Wednesday pledge to work together on sanctions and on strengthening the energy security of Europe and Ukraine, as they seek to present a united front to Russia, a draft document said.

• December 3, 2014

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will talk to European allies this week about imposing further sanctions on Russia if pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine do not halt violence, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.

• December 2, 2014

France is ready to help China track down people suspected of corruption who may be on French soil, and does not rule out extraditing any it finds to Beijing, a justice ministry official said.

• December 2, 2014

As the European Central Bank comes closer to buying sovereign bonds, one London-based think tank says an opportunity has arisen to fix one of the euro zone's birth defects -- the absence of a credible "risk-free" asset.

• December 1, 2014