Angela Merkel wants to get other European Union member countries to agree to step up sanctions against Russia because of its role in the war in Syria, a German newspaper cited sources close to the German chancellor as saying.

• October 16, 2016

Chinese state-owned chemical companies Sinochem Group and ChemChina are in discussions about a possible merger to create a chemicals, fertilizer and oil giant with almost $100 billion in annual revenue, three sources familiar with the matter said.

• October 14, 2016

Scotland may try to wrest control over migration as part of a new enhanced devolution deal once Britain leaves the European Union, Scotland's minister for EU negotiations said on Friday.

• October 14, 2016

Italy will send about 140 troops to join a NATO mission in Latvia set up to boost defenses against a possible Russian attack, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Friday.

• October 14, 2016

Russia has mounted a campaign of covert economic and political measures to manipulate five countries in central and eastern Europe, discredit the West's liberal democratic model, and undermine trans-Atlantic ties, a report by a private U.S. research group said.

• October 13, 2016

The Russian government's sale of a controlling stake in mid-sized oil firm Bashneft to the country's largest oil producer Rosneft should give momentum to Russia's privatization drive, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

• October 12, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused France of deliberately luring Moscow into vetoing a United Nations resolution on Syria and suggested Paris was doing the bidding of the United States.

• October 12, 2016

The scandal that erupted in the United States over allegations Russia hacked Democratic Party emails has not been in Moscow's interests and both sides in the U.S. election campaign are just using Russia to score points, Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

• October 12, 2016