The head of the group of euro zone finance ministers hit out on Thursday at the size of the fines being imposed on European banks by U.S. authorities, calling them "over-excessive" and "much too high".

• June 6, 2014

Lech Walesa, onetime leader of the pro-democracy Solidarity trade union that ended communism in Poland, said his country should join the euro zone to become fully free and safe from Russia, its former imperial overlord.

• June 4, 2014

Chinese state media lashed out at Google Inc, Apple Inc and other U.S. technology companies on Wednesday, calling on Beijing "to punish severely the pawns" of the U.S. government for monitoring China and stealing secrets.

• June 4, 2014

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia should consider recapitalizing state gas company Gazprom after a $400 billion deal with China which will require multi-billion-dollar investments in pipelines and new fields.

• June 4, 2014

Fighting raged in eastern Ukraine for the second straight day on Tuesday as the army rolled out an offensive against pro-Russia separatists holding the city of Slaviansk, with dead and wounded on both sides, the Ukrainian government said.

• June 3, 2014

United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay on Tuesday called on China to reveal the truth about the army's violent suppression of mass pro-democracy protests on Beijing's Tiananmen Square 25 years ago.

• June 3, 2014

Euro zone inflation fell unexpectedly in May, all-but sealing the case for the European Central Bank to act this week with a batch of measures to stimulate the economy and keep it from the clutches of deflation. Annual consumer inflation in the 18 countries sharing the euro fell to 0.5 percent in May from 0.7 percent in April, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected inflation to remain steady.

• June 3, 2014

A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
By Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas and Lecturer in Energy Politics at the European University of St Petersburg

Key points:

• Special report on the Gazprom-CNPC gas deal: Gazprom was always unlikely to achieve ‘European’ prices for its gas exports to China, but the deal with CNPC is crucial to the development of gas production and transportation in East Siberia and Russia’s Far East
• In-depth report on the latest developments in the Gazprom-Naftogaz dispute: Gazprom switches to pre-payment, and demands that Naftogaz pay up front for its June gas supplies. If Naftogaz fails to pay by the 2nd of June, Gazprom’s supplies to Naftogaz to could be halted the following day
• EU antitrust damages directive approved by European Parliament, and passed to EU Council of Ministers for final approval
• Gazprom and Lietuvos Dujos reach agreement on gas price for Lithuania, as Lithuania continues to negotiate for alternative supplies
• Eni signs landmark agreement with Gazprom to switch to spot pricing in existing long-term gas supply contract
• South Stream could get a 32 bcm spur from Hungary to Austria
• Gazprom Marketing and Trading Ltd and CNPC each agree to buy 3 million tonnes of LNG per year for the next 20 years from Novatek’s Yamal LNG project

• June 3, 2014