China and South Korea have a common interest in ensuring Tokyo is held to account for its wartime past, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday, amid their shared concerns about Japan's more assertive security strategy.

• July 5, 2014

Ukrainian forces recaptured a flashpoint area of eastern Ukraine from pro-Russian rebels on Saturday and raised the country's blue and yellow flag again over what had been the separatist redoubt of Slaviansk.

• July 5, 2014

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that risks facing the euro zone economy meant interest rates will stay low for an extended period.

"The risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area remain on the downside," Draghi said at a news conference after the bank had left interest rates unchanged.

• July 4, 2014

Iran has reduced demands for the size of its future nuclear enrichment program in talks with world powers although Western governments are urging Tehran to compromise further, Western diplomats said on Thursday.

• July 4, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for better relations with the United States on Friday in a congratulatory message to President Barack Obama marking U.S. Independence Day.

• July 4, 2014

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine agreed in Berlin on Wednesday to hold three-way talks involving pro-Moscow rebels by Saturday to pave the way for a new ceasefire, despite continued fighting that Kiev says has now killed 200 of its troops.

• July 3, 2014

Iran has reduced demands for the size of its future nuclear enrichment program in talks with world powers although Western governments are urging Tehran to compromise further, Western diplomats close to the negotiations said on Thursday.

• July 3, 2014

The leaders of South Korea and China on Thursday restated their firm opposition to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, Beijing's erstwhile ally, and to work towards concluding talks on a free trade deal by the end of the year.

• July 3, 2014