Western and Gulf Arab nations have dismissed a Russian plan for peace and reform in Syria and said it will not form the basis for talks in Vienna this weekend.

• Date: 12.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 12.11.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.rferl.org

Syrian opposition figures and Gulf commentators dismissed on Wednesday a Russian draft proposal for a process to solve the Syrian crisis, saying Moscow's aim was to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and marginalize dissenting voices.

• Date: 11.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 11.11.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.reuters.com

China is not aware of any plan to discuss the disputed South China Sea at an Asia Pacific leaders' summit next week, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday, amid tensions between China and the Philippines over the waters.

• Date: 10.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 10.11.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.reuters.com

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has criticized the Islamic republic's hard-line media, suggesting some of these outlets are working as "undercover police" amid a wave of recent arrests by the country's feared Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that is aimed at cracking down on Western influence.

• Date: 08.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 08.11.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.rferl.org

Russia flew home some 11,000 Russian tourists from Egypt on November 7 and an even larger number is expected to leave on November 8.

• Date: 08.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 08.11.2015  |  Security  |  from http://www.rferl.org

China has always insisted the dispute in the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully through talks, but the government has a responsibility to protect the country's sovereignty and maritime rights, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday.

• Date: 07.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 07.11.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists have agreed to complete a withdrawal of heavy weaponry from their frontlines in eastern Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Friday after a round of peace talks in Berlin.

• Date: 07.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 07.11.2015  |  Security  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on Thursday evidence so far indicates there was an Islamic State bomb attack on the Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

• Date: 05.11.2015  |  Published on EGF: 05.11.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.reuters.com/