China wants to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to "dispel interference" in the disputed South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said during a regional summit in the Lao capital Vientiane.

• September 8, 2016

The Philippines said on Wednesday it was "gravely concerned" that Chinese boats were preparing to build structures at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, shattering an appearance of cordiality at an Asian summit in Laos.

• September 7, 2016

Syria's main opposition negotiating group would reject any deal struck by Russia and the United States on Syria's fate that was very different from its own proposed transition plan, the group's general coordinator Riyad Hijab said on Wednesday.

• September 7, 2016

Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed on Monday to cooperate in world oil markets, saying they will not act immediately but could limit output in the future, sending prices higher on hopes the two top oil producers would work together to tackle a global glut.

• September 6, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged his support to the man emerging as the likely next leader of Uzbekistan on Tuesday, during a visit that put a stamp on Moscow's claim to be the ex-Soviet republic's closest ally.

• September 6, 2016

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday urged Russia to finalize a ceasefire agreement on Syria with the United States and stressed the urgency of delivering humanitarian aid to people under siege in Aleppo.

• September 4, 2016

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday pressed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, urging Beijing to uphold its legal obligations and stressing the United States' commitments to its regional allies.

• September 3, 2016

Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan for the past quarter of a century, was buried in his home city of Samarkand on Saturday, leaving behind a power vacuum in a nation that serves as a bulwark against militant Islam in Central Asia.

• September 3, 2016