Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month that would let Iran lift oil exports substantially, in defiance of Western sanctions that helped force Tehran to agree a preliminary deal to end its nuclear program.

• January 10, 2014

Some euro zone banks are restricting lending to boost their performance in financial stress tests this year, a member of the European Central Bank's (ECB) governing council said on Friday.

• January 10, 2014

China hailed its crackdown on corruption on Friday, saying "new progress and achievements" had led to a 13.3 percent increase in the number of people punished last year.

• January 10, 2014

China has set new targets for its provinces to reduce air pollution by 5 to 25 percent, state media said late on Tuesday, underscoring the government's concern about a source of public anger.

• January 9, 2014

Japan is set to clarify the ownership of 280 remote islands in its territorial waters and register them as national assets, a move that could rile China and South Korea, which are engaged in territorial disputes with Tokyo.

• January 9, 2014

China took its propaganda war with Japan to the United Nations on Wednesday, questioning Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's motives for visiting a controversial war shrine and calling on him to correct his "erroneous outlook" on history.

• January 8, 2014

Euro zone retail sales leapt in November even though unemployment remained at a record high, hinting at a pick up in consumer demand that would ease deflation worries and relieve pressure on the ECB to loosen policy.

• January 8, 2014

China will unify the way it calculates provincial economic output to help close a gap with national figures, the country's chief statistician said on Tuesday, amid skepticism about the reliability of Chinese data.

• January 8, 2014