Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday he expected a "long and tortuous process" of world economic recovery, while China's economic growth rate of about 7 percent was "within a reasonable and expected range".

• October 7, 2013

China will replace four coal-burning heating plants in the capital Beijing with natural gas fired ones by the end of next year as it steps up efforts to clean up pollution, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

• October 5, 2013

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, even it has to stand alone against the threat.

• October 2, 2013

After a quarter century of Middle Eastern land wars and a sharp fall in big powers' naval spending after the Cold War, sea power is back in vogue in response to the rise of China and Western reluctance to deploy ground troops in conflicts like Syria.

• October 1, 2013

Tajikistan's parliament ratified a deal with Russia on Tuesday to extend by three decades Moscow's military presence in the volatile Central Asian nation, which may face new security threats after NATO troops leave neighbouring Afghanistan.

• October 1, 2013

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is in South Korea for talks, where the eventual transfer of military control to Seoul is expected to be a key issue.

• September 30, 2013

Iran's deputy foreign minister says Tehran is willing to discuss limits to its uranium enrichment but will not suspend the process completely.

• September 30, 2013

China opened a new free trade zone in Shanghai on Sunday in what has been hailed as potentially the boldest reform move in decades, unveiling fresh details of plans to liberalize regulations governing finance, investment and trade in the zone.

• September 29, 2013