Russia's finance minister called on Wednesday for a cut in planned spending to weather an economic crisis, warning of a more than $45 billion drop in revenues this year if the average oil price is $50 a barrel.

• January 14, 2015

Bulgaria said on Wednesday it would extend a barbed wire fence along its border with Turkey by a further 130 km (80 miles) in an attempt to prevent a growing number of refugees, mainly from Syria, entering the European Union member state.

• January 14, 2015

China's Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co Ltd on Wednesday said four investors have agreed to contribute 24 billion yuan ($3.87 billion) over the coming two years as the first tranche of funding to build around 20 shopping malls.

• January 14, 2015

Oil prices slid on Tuesday to their lowest in almost six years, but European shares rose as investors focused on expectations that policymakers would soon take action to prevent the euro zone slipping into deflation.

• January 13, 2015

The European Union will consider lifting sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis only if there is "real progress" in implementing a four-month-old ceasefire deal, Latvia's foreign minister said on Monday.

• January 12, 2015

China on Monday hit back at the Philippines for criticizing Beijing's ongoing reclamation project in the disputed South China Sea, saying that its actions were within the scope of Chinese sovereignty.

• January 12, 2015

The People's Bank of China will continue to maintain "prudent" monetary policy in 2015, keeping credit growth stable while having its hands free to fine-tune policy when necessary, the regulator said in an online statement on Friday.

• January 11, 2015

It's not so much the risk of conflict with Russia that worries the mayor of the Latvian capital Riga; it's the threat to jobs and investment as EU sanctions on Moscow rebound on the economy of the Baltic state.

• January 9, 2015