China has unveiled new rules telling officials not to cover up what should be publicly available information using the excuse it is a state secret, in what state media said was a move towards greater government transparency.

• February 3, 2014

Thai anti-government protesters planned to forge ahead on Monday with efforts to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day after a disrupted election that is unlikely to settle the country's long-running political conflict.

• February 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:

• EU continues to prepare Statement of Objections despite Gazprom’s December proposals for an early settlement
• Gazprom breaks record in gas exports to Europe in 2013 with 16 percent y-o-y increase in gas export volumes
• Gazprom-OMV contractual adjustments ‘unaffected’ by EU antimonopoly investigation
• Dutch gas production set to decline in 2014-15 – Could Gazprom fill the gap?
• Putin outlines Russia’s position regarding Ukraine: the gas debt still needs to be paid and the Russian government is prepared to work with whoever is in power in Ukraine
• Nord Stream: EU and Gazprom agree on full use of OPAL pipeline
• EU and Russia continue to negotiate over the application of Third Party Access legislation to the South Stream project
• Gazprom plans to sign deal with CNPC (China) in May, during Putin visit to China
• Gazprom completes 100 percent takeover of ArmRosGazprom (Armenia)
• Gazprom adds fifth tanker to its LNG carrier fleet

• February 3, 2014

Top officials from the United Nations, United States, Russia and European Union will meet on Saturday to discuss how they can help U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's drive for a Middle East peace deal, the EU said on Friday.

• January 31, 2014

A city in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine built on industry and blue collar workers, Zaporizhzhya is not normally a place of revolution.

• January 31, 2014

China's crackdown on risky lending has driven borrowers into an even darker place in their search for capital - underground banking.

• January 31, 2014

President Vladimir Putin raised the pressure on Ukraine on Wednesday, saying Russia would wait until it forms a new government before fully implementing a $15 billion bailout deal that Kiev urgently needs.

• January 30, 2014

Optimism in the euro zone about its economic prospects continued to improve in January with a jump in morale in the bloc's two largest economies, Germany and France.

• January 30, 2014