U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for refraining from retaliation in a dispute over spying and cyber attacks, in another sign that the Republican plans to patch up badly frayed relations with Moscow.

• December 31, 2016

Russia urged the U.N. Security Council on Friday to give its blessing to a fragile ceasefire in Syria, the third truce this year seeking to end the nearly six years of war in Syria.

• December 31, 2016

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will pass through the United States when she visits Latin America next month, the Taiwan Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, angering China which urged the United States to block any such stopover.

• December 29, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ceasefire between Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government starting at midnight on Thursday.

• December 29, 2016

Russian authorities investigating the crash of a military plane that killed 92 people said on Thursday there was no explosion on board but they had not ruled out a "terrorist act" as the cause.

• December 29, 2016

The top echelons of China's ruling Communist Party must lead the fight against corruption by accepting supervision for all they do, state media on Tuesday quoted President Xi Jinping as saying.

• December 27, 2016

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted on Tuesday as saying that the Syrian government was consulting with the opposition ahead of possible peace talks, but a Saudi-backed opposition group said it knew nothing of the negotiations.

• December 27, 2016

Russia's Gazprom said on Tuesday it had filed proposals with the European Commission aimed at resolving a five-year EU case over the Russian gas giant's alleged monopoly practices.

• December 27, 2016