Washington and Tehran are trying to narrow their differences over Iran's nuclear program in talks set to begin Friday in Geneva. Negotiators failed to meet a self-imposed deadline in November to end the 12-year standoff over Tehran's nuclear capabilities. Top U.S. and Iranian diplomats will now again try to strike a deal.
According to a recently released poll of U.S. opinion on Russia, Americans have taken on an increasingly negative perspective toward the former Soviet Union in terms of several different and important aspects.
Despite the ceasefire brokered at last week's top-level Minsk summit, fighting continued on Monday in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists exchanged what the news service called "intense" fire around the bitterly contested town of Debaltseve.
While the U.S. still claims the highest earning potential for both entertainment companies and online media, emerging markets like Mexico, India, China and Russia are catching up, reports Ernst & Young, the world's leading business management consultants.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, are set to meet with the leaders of Germany and France in Minsk on Wednesday.
According to Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, the European Union has suffered a 21 billion euros loss in exports as a direct result of the sanctions placed against Russia over its conflict with the Ukraine. The foreign minister said this on Monday as he met with his counterparts to discuss further measures to be taken in the wake of the loss.
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday tried to dissuade President Barack Obama from arming Ukraine in its conflict against Russian-backed separatists. The German head of government is visiting the White House following last week's top-level diplomatic efforts, in which she and French President François Hollande tried to mediate between Kiev and Moscow.
Vladimir Putin may plan to meddle in the Baltic states to "restore Russia to its former position as a great power," former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned.
French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined forces on Thursday in an attempt to help halt the hostilities in eastern Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un could be visiting Russia this year, according to South Korean media and the Kremlin. It remains uncertain, however, whether Jong-Un will visit himself or will send another dignitary for Russia's celebrations of the end of the Second World War.
The United States and its European allies are putting tighter sanctions against Russia back on the table after attacks by Moscow-backed rebels effectively ended a fragile, five-month truce in eastern Ukraine.
On Friday, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud vowed to the policies of his predecessor, the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, as he took over the reign of Saudi Arabia, one of the closest Middle East allies of the United States. The new ruler called for unity among his region's countries in a period of widespread unrest.
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine affirmed on Monday that they were in control of the Donetsk airport. The city of nearly a million inhabitants serves as the capital of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, and the airfield - though largely destroyed in earlier clashes - is of significant strategic and symbolic value.
Russia passed a law preventing people considered to be "sexual deviants" from obtaining driver's license in an attempt to curb the country's atrocious number of car accidents. However, human rights groups and activists have decried the Kremlin's actions.
A report on the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup games may soon be available for public scrutiny–in a limited scope–after FIFA revisits the issue.
The ruble showed signs of recovery Wednesday after the dramatic devaluation the Russian currency had experienced in the previous two days. Vladimir Putin's government pressured exporters not to hoard foreign-currency earnings, and the country's central bank announced measures to support financial stability.
