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

U.N. chemical weapons inspectors in Syria met and took samples from victims of an apparent poison gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus on Monday after the U.N. team themselves survived a sniper attack that hit a vehicle in their convoy.

• August 26, 2013

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on Saturday re-affirmed his commitment to signing key agreements with the European Union, including on trade, despite a threat by Russia's Vladimir Putin of possible retaliatory measures.

• August 26, 2013

Senior U.S. and Russian diplomats will meet in The Hague next Wednesday to discuss ending Syria's two-year civil war, the State Department said on Thursday, in what would be the first such meeting since reports of a deadly chemical attack outside the capital, Damascus.

• August 24, 2013

Business surveys on Thursday suggested the world economy was on the mend, with U.S. and Chinese manufacturing activity at multi-month highs and better-than-expected growth in the euro zone.

• August 22, 2013

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

The European Union stopped short of agreeing immediate cuts in financial or military assistance to Cairo on Wednesday, as the bloc's foreign ministers held emergency talks to find ways to help bring an end to violence in Egypt.

• August 21, 2013

The European Central Bank joined Germany on Wednesday in playing down talk of a third bailout package for Greece, but reaffirmed the euro zone would help the country trim debt as long as it stuck to its latest aid program.

• August 21, 2013