Two Russian bombers briefly entered Japan's air space near its major southern island of Kyushu on Thursday, prompting Japan to scramble its fighter jets and lodge a protest, the Japanese government said, but Russia denied any intrusion.

• August 22, 2013

Syria's opposition accused government forces of gassing hundreds of people on Wednesday by firing rockets that released deadly fumes over rebel-held Damascus suburbs, killing men, women and children as they slept.

• August 21, 2013

Egypt's deputy prime minister will propose a way out of a bloody confrontation between the security forces and the Muslim Brotherhood of deposed president Mohamed Mursi when the cabinet discusses the crisis on Sunday.

• August 18, 2013

Boats carrying about 20 members of a Japanese nationalist group headed back to port on Sunday after sailing near tiny islands in the East China Sea that are at the center of a dispute between Japan and China.

• August 18, 2013

The European Union will review its relationship with Egypt in the coming days, the 28-member bloc said on Sunday.

• August 18, 2013

The European Union should review aid programs to Egypt and the International Monetary Fund should hold off from supporting Cairo after a crackdown on supporters of the ousted Islamist president, Sweden's foreign minister said on Thursday.

• August 16, 2013

U.S. and Russian officials agreed on Friday on the need to convene a long-delayed Syrian peace conference in Geneva as soon as possible, but they offered no concrete plan to bring the warring government and rebels to the table.

• August 11, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not made an agreement with Saudi Arabia to scale back support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in exchange for economic incentives including an arms deal, the Kremlin said on Friday.

• August 9, 2013