Pakistan's interior minister said on Tuesday he could not confirm that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been killed in a U.S. drone strike, and described Washington's justification for the attack as "against international law".

• May 24, 2016

The leaders of Russia and Ukraine discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President preparations to hold elections in an eastern Ukrainian area hit by a pro-Russian insurrection, according to the german government.

• May 24, 2016

Iraqi government forces fought Islamic State militants near Falluja on Monday and bombarded central districts at the outset of an offensive to retake the longtime jihadist stronghold on the western approaches to the capital Baghdad.

• May 23, 2016

Oil prices slid early on Monday as Iran vowed to ramp up output and rig reductions paused in the United States, then crude futures pared losses on data showing a stockpile drawdown at the U.S. delivery hub.

• May 23, 2016

Beijing plans to roll out China's tightest fuel standards by January 2017, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday citing the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, as the smog-choked city aims to drastically cut vehicle emission.

• May 23, 2016

Pakistan accused the United States on Sunday of violating its sovereignty with a drone strike against the leader of the Afghan Taliban, in perhaps the most high-profile U.S. incursion into Pakistani territory since the 2011 raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

• May 22, 2016

Iran has no plans to freeze the level of its oil production and exports, Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi was quoted on Sunday as saying, as the country tries to raise its crude exports to pre-sanctions levels.

• May 22, 2016

Egypt will have to work 10 times harder to revive its tourism industry, Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed said on Sunday, after a series of setbacks including the crash of an EgyptAir flight into the Mediterranean three days ago.

• May 22, 2016