srael held back on Monday from a threatened escalation of attacks on the northern Gaza Strip and no Palestinian rockets streaked towards Tel Aviv, but elsewhere fighting continued unabated despite growing pressure for a ceasefire.

• July 14, 2014

Ukraine on Monday accused Russian army officers of fighting alongside separatists in the east of the country and said Moscow was once more building up its troops on the joint border.

• July 14, 2014

China and the United States must avoid a "new cold war" in their international relations, China's top newspaper said on Saturday, in the wake of high level talks in Beijing between senior leaders of the world's two largest economies.

• July 12, 2014

Ukraine scrambled jet fighters to strike at rebel positions early on Saturday, after separatists resumed missile attacks on government forces near the frontier with Russia, the border guard service said.

• July 12, 2014

The European Union targeted Ukrainian separatist leader Aleksandr Borodai and 10 other rebels with travel bans and asset freezes on Saturday, avoiding fresh sanctions on Russian business to avoid antagonizing its main energy supplier.

• July 12, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a six-day tour of Latin America on Friday, seeking greater influence in the backyard of the United States while under pressure from the West to help restrain pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

• July 11, 2014

The European Union sought to reassure Russia on Friday that a free-trade pact with Ukraine was not aimed at hurting Moscow but rejected calls to postpone its implementation, offering more talks instead.

• July 11, 2014

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi urged euro zone states to respect their joint fiscal rules and extend their cooperation to economic reforms, telling governments they must "learn to govern together".

• July 11, 2014