Japan needs details of China's plans for Sept 3. events to mark the anniversary of World War Two before it decides if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Beijing then for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a Japanese government source said.

• August 20, 2015

Austria's parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of an 86 billion euro ($94.9 billion) bailout for Greece to prevent the debt-ridden country from tumbling out of the euro zone.

• August 18, 2015

Oil fell about 1 percent on Monday, with U.S. crude settling within range of a new 6-1/2-year low, after No. 3 oil consumer Japan said its economy contracted in the second quarter and China's slowdown continued to weigh on sentiment

• August 17, 2015

Euro zone finance ministers have agreed to lend Greece up to 86 billion euros ($96 billion) after Greek lawmakers accepted their stiff conditions despite a revolt by supporters of leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

• August 16, 2015

European officials have recommended that euro zone finance ministers disburse an initial 23 billion euros ($25.56 billion) in a first aid tranche to Greece under its new bailout deal, a Greek official said on Friday.

• August 14, 2015

Greece's economy unexpectedly returned to growth in the second quarter despite political turmoil and the threat of a Greek euro zone exit, data showed on Thursday.

• August 13, 2015

China's central bank has stopped "regularly" intervening in the foreign exchange market but could still conduct "effective management" of the yuan in cases of extreme volatility, its vice governor said, as policymakers tried to stem selling this week.

• August 13, 2015

Russia has added Albania, Montenegro, Liechtenstein and Iceland to a list of countries from which it has banned most food imports in retaliation for Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

• August 13, 2015