The euro zone turned its attention tentatively on Monday to helping Greece tackle its huge debt repayments, with a view to a deal on May 24, after Greek lawmakers passed unpopular pension and tax reforms one critic called "a tombstone for growth".

• May 9, 2016

Syria's opposition is hopeful of a return to peace talks in Geneva if a U.S.-Russian deal on reviving a failed truce is swiftly implemented, a member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) said on Monday.

• May 9, 2016

The incoming Taiwanese government on Sunday accused China of "political interference" after a senior Chinese official cast doubt over the island keeping its observer status at the World Health Organisation if bilateral relations deteriorated further.

• May 8, 2016

Managing Saudi Arabia's new energy mega-ministry, set to oversee over half the economy and designed to cut through a tangled bureaucracy to make government more coherent and efficient, will be a formidable challenge.

• May 8, 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday hailed the country's recent nuclear test and launch of a satellite into space, as he opened the first congress of the country's ruling Workers' Party in 36 years.

• May 6, 2016

The United States said on Wednesday it had agreed with Russia to extend a cessation of hostilities agreement to include Aleppo where intense day-long violence between Syrian rebels and government forces killed dozens of people.

• May 4, 2016

The United Nations mediator on Syria said moribund peace talks on the conflict could soon be resumed if a faltering truce were extended to the city of Aleppo, something the Russian foreign minister said he hoped would be announced within hours.

• May 3, 2016

Two Ukrainian energy companies have asked a U.N. arbitrator to award them compensation for investments they lost when Russia seized control of the Crimean peninsula, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said on Monday.

• May 2, 2016