Russia has rebuffed calls for a more ambitious plan to cut its carbon dioxide emissions after environmentalists branded its current pledge inadequate and backward-looking.

• September 23, 2015

An Iranian official says the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency will visit Iran soon for further talks on the inspection of Iran's nuclear facilities.

• September 15, 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will help Tajikistan ensure stability after recent violence there left more than 20 dead, stoking fresh fears of unrest in the former Soviet state.

• September 15, 2015

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Beijing next week to discuss Iran's nuclear agreement and efforts to boost ties with China, China's foreign ministry said on Friday.

• September 11, 2015

Legislators have approved amendments to China's 15-year-old air pollution law that grant the state new powers to punish offenders and create a legal framework to cap coal consumption, the Asian giant's biggest source of smog.

• August 29, 2015

An interest rate hike next month seems less appropriate given the threat posed to the U.S. economy by recent global market turmoil, an influential Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday.

• August 26, 2015

A Chinese oil rig at the center of last year's standoff between China and Vietnam will continue drilling not far from Vietnam's coast, China's maritime safety authorities said on Tuesday.

• August 25, 2015

Oil fell about 1 percent on Monday, with U.S. crude settling within range of a new 6-1/2-year low, after No. 3 oil consumer Japan said its economy contracted in the second quarter and China's slowdown continued to weigh on sentiment

• August 17, 2015