More than two years into Syria's civil war, President Bashar al-Assad is settling his bills for Russian arms orders through the Russian banking system to try to shore up ties with his most powerful ally, according to a Russian arms industry source.

• August 29, 2013

The U.N. Security Council should wait for inspectors to present their report on an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria before considering a response, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday.

• August 28, 2013

Angela Merkel is relishing the chance to debate the euro zone crisis with challenger Peer Steinbrueck in their only TV duel of the election campaign, despite a row over Greek aid that has put her government on the defensive, her campaign chief said.

• August 28, 2013

China on Tuesday brushed aside calls from Japan to hold a leaders' summit as "grandstanding", while Japan's finance minister said Tokyo should make clear it would use its navy to defend islands at the core of a dispute with Beijing.

• August 28, 2013

Russia's first civil plane since the fall of the Soviet Union bagged a clutch of deals with mainly domestic buyers on the first day of an airshow near Moscow, as the country battles to revive its aircraft industry amid stiff foreign competition.

• August 27, 2013

Russia demanded on Tuesday the release of the head of Russian company Uralkali, whose arrest in Belarus threatens to turn a business dispute that shook the $20-billion global potash market into a major diplomatic row.

• August 27, 2013

The European Union has warned Beijing it has evidence Chinese solar companies benefit from illegal subsidies, people close to the issue said on Tuesday, but Brussels says it will not take action for now following a deal to defuse the row.

• August 27, 2013

Russia warned Western powers on Monday against any military intervention in Syria, saying the use of force without a U.N. mandate would violate international law.

• August 26, 2013