Global powers and Iran are close to a preliminary deal to rein in Tehran's nuclear program and should not pass up a "very good chance" to clinch it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks broadcast on Saturday.

• November 17, 2013

A 20-year-old deal that has powered American homes while reducing the risk of Russian nuclear material falling into the wrong hands approached its end on Thursday when the final shipment of uranium left St Petersburg for Baltimore.

• November 15, 2013

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's pinning of blame on Iran for the lack of a deal on its nuclear program last week, saying splits between Western powers prevented a breakthrough.

• November 12, 2013

Italy on Monday called on the European Union to press Libya to stem the gangs smuggling migrants from Africa on overcrowded boats and prevent shipwrecks like the one that killed hundreds last month.

• November 12, 2013

When Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov was trying to warn former Soviet satellite Poland against joining the U.S.-led NATO military alliance in the 1990s, he laced gallows humor with veiled menace.

• November 11, 2013

U.S. trade officials and industry groups on Friday aired concerns about Chinese trade protectionism while voicing hope that an economic agenda-setting meeting of China's top leaders this weekend would launch deeper reforms.

• November 9, 2013

Negotiations between Iran and six world powers will resume on Saturday morning after top diplomats from the United States, Iran and European Union made progress during talks on Tehran's nuclear program, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

• November 9, 2013

Six world powers and Iran could agree on a "road map" for ending the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program at talks in Geneva on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

• November 8, 2013