The U.S. and Russian foreign ministers met on Monday to discuss a planned conference aimed at ending Syria's civil war against a backdrop of widening regional violence and new allegations of chemical weapons use.

• May 27, 2013

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang criticized the European Union over its plans to investigate alleged anti-competitive behavior by Chinese mobile telecom equipment makers and to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China, state media reported.

• May 25, 2013

Saddled with Middle East problems ranging from Iran to Syria and beyond, President Barack Obama now faces one that is both old and new: Iraq.

• May 25, 2013

A North Korean envoy told China's president on Friday that his reclusive country was willing to take "positive actions" to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as China steps up diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to talks.

• May 25, 2013

Since the 1990s, China's top leaders serve a maximum of two five-year terms. With the last batch of leaders having reached the end of their second term last year, there has been a transition to the 'fifth generation' of leaders since the Chinese Communist Party came to power in Peoples Republic of China in 1949.

• May 23, 2013

IAEA can continue supervision of Iran's nuclear activities without any obstacles, Iran's ambassador to IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh said, Mehr news agency reported.

• May 23, 2013

North Korea's nuclear weapons program is undermining regional stability in Northeast Asia, with the present crisis on the Korean Peninsula again prompting the neighboring states into seriously reconsidering their national security policies.

• May 23, 2013

India has slashed Iranian oil imports by almost a fifth since December, the sharpest cut among Asian buyers, in a move that should increase its chances of winning a new US waiver next month on sanctions targeting oil trade with Iran.

• May 22, 2013