Guns mostly fell silent in Syria and Russian air raids stopped on Saturday, the first day of a cessation of hostilities that the United Nations has described as the best hope for peace in five years of civil war.

• February 27, 2016

Financial leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies agreed to inform each other in advance about policy decisions that could lead to devaluations of their currencies, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Saturday.

• February 27, 2016

Islamic State militants launched an assault on a Kurdish-controlled town on Syria's border with Turkey on Saturday, prompting air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition to try to drive them back.

• February 27, 2016

The New Development Bank established by the BRICS emerging nations plans to invest in infrastructure projects in those countries and is considering hydropower and electricity investments, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

• February 26, 2016

Iran briefly exceeded a limit set by a deal with major powers under which sanctions against it were lifted, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday, but Tehran then came back within the permitted bounds.

• February 26, 2016

Last July, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seemed to be losing his battle against rebel forces. Speaking to supporters in Damascus, he acknowledged his army's heavy losses.

• February 26, 2016

The United States and China have agreed on a draft resolution that would expand U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea over its latest nuclear test and hope to put it to a vote in the coming days, council diplomats said on Wednesday.

• February 25, 2016

Asia's oil markets are being upended as India's and China's refiners overtake once-dominant buyers like Japan and challenge the United States as the world's biggest consumer.

• February 25, 2016