Germany's foreign minister urged Russia and Ukraine on Monday to reduce tensions over Crimea and stick to the troubled Minsk peace accords as a way of ending hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

• August 15, 2016

Russia's Economy Ministry has advised Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev he would have to issue an unprecedented special decree if he wants to bar state-controlled oil major Rosneft (ROSN.MM) from the privatization of a mid-sized energy group, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

• August 15, 2016

OPEC will probably revive talks on freezing oil output levels when it meets non-OPEC nations next month as top exporter Saudi Arabia appears to want higher prices, according to OPEC sources, although Iran, Iraq and Russia present obstacles to a deal.

• August 15, 2016

The Philippines wants formal negotiations with China to explore pathways to peace and cooperation, the Southeast Asian nation's special envoy, Fidel Ramos, said on Friday, after a meeting with former Chinese deputy foreign minister Fu Ying.

• August 12, 2016

U.S.-backed forces battling Islamic State near the Turkish border in northern Syria said on Friday they had launched a final assault to flush the remaining jihadists out of the city of Manbij.

• August 12, 2016

Euro zone economic growth halved in the second quarter to a modest pace, as a mild slowdown in Germany was overshadowed by a surprise stagnation in Italy, offering scant hope of a decisive rebound for the currency bloc as a whole any time soon.

• August 12, 2016

Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay called on China on Thursday to respect maritime law and security as well as the rule of law, to resolve disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

• August 11, 2016

A build-up of Russian military on Ukraine's border with the Crimean region, which has been annexed by Moscow, could reflect "very bad intentions," Ukraine's U.N. envoy warned on Thursday after the U.N. Security Council discussed the growing tensions.

• August 11, 2016