President Barack Obama met privately on Tuesday with lead Israeli and Palestinian negotiators the day after they restarted long-stalled peace negotiations in Washington, a White House official said.

• July 30, 2013

China has ruled out the possibility of a proposed summit with Japan after Tokyo suggested the meeting in a bid to defuse an increasingly bitter territorial row, the official China Daily reported on Tuesday

• July 30, 2013

Russia's defense industry is cutting down on its use of foreign electronics as a result of leaks by ex-U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, a Russian government official said on Monday.

• July 30, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Ukraine to weigh carefully the benefits of joining Russia's regional trade bloc against its plans for closer ties with the European Union on a visit to Ukraine to attend a religious festival.

• July 29, 2013

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will resume peace talks in Washington on Monday, the US State Department has announced.

• July 29, 2013

China has ordered a nationwide audit of all government debt, underlining fears that the recent slowdown in its economy may impact the financial sector.

• July 29, 2013

Two years ago, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was on the point of giving up his role as iron fist in the euro zone debt crisis, but the 70-year-old champion of closer European integration now seems likely to remain on Europe's center stage.

• July 28, 2013

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, an outspoken supporter of Egypt's ousted President Mohamed Mursi, lashed out at the European Union and others for failing to condemn strongly enough the killing of dozens in Cairo earlier on Saturday.

• July 28, 2013