U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday sought to diffuse criticism of a U.S.-Russian ceasefire agreement on Syria arguing that without it violence would increase significantly with many more Syrians slaughtered or forced to flee the war-torn country.

• September 14, 2016

Germany's foreign minister said a recent attempt at a ceasefire between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists offers a "sliver of hope" and that he sees scope for further moves towards a lasting peace next week.

• September 14, 2016

India said it had held "substantive" talks with China on Tuesday on its bid to become a fully fledged member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a club of nations that trades in civil nuclear technology.

• September 13, 2016

U.S. bank Citi (C.N) is seeing business pick up in Russia as the country's economic crisis abates and is staying as engaged as it can given Western sanctions, its Russia head said.

• September 13, 2016

The European Parliament will seek to amend an annual budget package agreed by EU member states and in particular wants to limit cuts to research and foreign aid spending, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

• September 13, 2016

A nationwide ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia came into effect in Syria on Monday evening, the second attempt this year by Washington and Moscow to halt the five-year-old civil war.

• September 12, 2016

Libyan forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar said on Monday they had tightened their control over four major oil ports, casting a Western-backed project to unite Libya and revive oil exports into deep uncertainty.

• September 12, 2016

Britain will make public its guidelines for talks on leaving the European Union by the time it triggers the exit process, Brexit minister David Davis said on Monday, in the first indication of when Britons will find out what the government hopes to achieve in the talks.

• September 12, 2016