President Bashar Assad has a “pivotal” role to play in the war on terrorism and in any political settlement to Syria’s devastating civil war, a senior Iranian official said.

Greece emptied an emergency IMF holding account to repay €750m due to the international lender, a Greek central bank official said, avoiding default but underscoring the dire state of the country’s finances.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has reshuffled his team handling talks with European and IMF lenders, a move widely seen as an effort to relegate embattled finance minister Yanis Varoufakis to a less active role in negotiations.

European officials are preparing to assess Greece’s third set of economic policy proposals with German chancellor Angela Merkel urging prime minister Alexis Tsipras to do what is needed to qualify for aid.

Russian anger over MoD’s ‘real danger’ claim

Japan’s deputy foreign minister has expressed hope that his fellow countryman and a Jordanian pilot held by Islamic militants will return home “with a smile on their faces” as criticisms mounted over the government’s handling of the crisis.

Prosecutors in Poland have questioned film-maker Roman Polanski at the request of US prosecutors, who are seeking his extradition on charges from 1977 of having sex with a minor.

US secretary of state John Kerry said yesterday major differences persist between Iran and six world powers negotiating on Tehran’s nuclear programme, remarks echoed by Tehran, with a July 20 deadline for a deal approaching.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and fellow foreign ministers are attempting to advance troubled nuclear talks with Iran as a deadline looms for a pact meant to curb programmes Tehran could turn to making atomic arms.

An ambitious round of nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers has ended with serious setbacks, with a senior Iranian official saying the two sides are at odds on several key issues.

A criminal investigation has been launched into breaches of hygiene at a cheese factory after footage of bare-chested workers bathing in vats of milk went viral on the internet.

Russia’s prime minister has arrived in Crimea to consider priorities for its economic development following the Russian takeover.

China demanded yesterday that Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that a Malaysia Airlines jetliner had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, killing 239.

Malaysia says it has narrowed the search area for a downed airliner by 80% in the southern Indian Ocean, while Australia said improved weather would allow the hunt for possible debris from the plane to resume.

Furious that Malaysia has declared their loved ones lost in a plane crash without physical evidence, Chinese relatives of the missing marched to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing today.

Syrian government and opposition delegates said talks to end their country’s civil war have reached an impasse, with the United States and Russia backing the rival camps and trading accusations over the deadlock.

Egypt will hold a presidential vote before parliamentary polls, president Adly Mansour said yesterday, in a change to a political roadmap that could pave the way for the swift election of army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Iran has proposed what it calls a potential breakthrough plan at talks on its nuclear development programme.

The five permanent members of the divided Security Council appear to have reached agreement on a resolution to require Syria to dismantle its chemical weapons stockpiles, UN diplomats said.

Syria said it had taken “every measure” to retaliate if hit by a feared US-led military strike and would never give in, even if a third world war erupts.

The US military stands ready to strike Syria at once if president Barack Obama gives the order, the country’s defence secretary Chuck Hagel has said.

The US State Department has said it is cancelling a meeting with Russian diplomats on Syria this week.

UN inspectors have arrived in the Syrian capital on a mission to probe for the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Israel would rather forego a research partnership with the EU worth hundreds of millions of euro than accept an anti-settlement clause as part of such a deal, the country’s deputy foreign minister has said.

Fears grew of a foreign-fed arms race in Syria as European Union countries decided they could provide weapons to the rebels and Russia disclosed that it has signed a contract to provide Syria with sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles.

Russia has responded to a European Union move to lift its arms embargo for Syrian rebels by considering giving president Bashar Assad more high-powered missiles – raising the prospect of a new foreign-fed arms race in the Middle East.

The Syrian government has agreed to a conference on the country’s future proposed by Russia and the United States, Russia’s foreign ministry said today.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has referred to Israel's attack on a military research facility a "declaration of war".

Talks between Iran and a group of six nations over fears that Tehran’s nuclear programme might be used to make weapons appeared to run into trouble shortly after they began.

Argentina and Britain have had another bitter clash at the United Nations over the Falkland Islands.

Syria threatened today to retaliate for an Israeli air strike and its ally Iran said there will be repercussions over the attack.

Russia is pressing the Syrian leadership to honour previous pledges to enter talks with the opposition.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad yesterday sent a senior diplomat to Moscow yesterday to discuss proposals by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to end the conflict convulsing his country, Syrian and Lebanese sources said.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister has said that Syrian President Bashar Assad is increasingly losing control and the opposition may win, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

Israel’s deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon has said that Israel is not happy about the international response to the plan for settlements in east Jerusalem, but “it’s not the end of the world”.

A senior Russian diplomat has warned the West against trying to predetermine a future leadership of Syria.

Western powers are preparing a tough response in case Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime deploys chemical or biological weapons, France’s foreign minister said.

Syrian regime forces shelled two central Damascus districts today before troops backed by tanks swept through to carry out house-to-house raids, killing at least 35 suspected rebels, in a major flare-up of fighting in the Syrian capital, activists said.

French President Francois Hollande has said military intervention in Syria should not be ruled out, despite US insistence that it is not a good idea at this point.

Syrian troops have launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb, days ahead of a deadline for a UN-brokered ceasefire.

Vladimir Putin today rejected opposition protests against his presidential election victory and his foreign ministry ruled out any softening of Moscow’s stance on Syria, a strong indication that the Russian leader has no intention of easing tough policies at home or abroad.

China's special envoy to Syria is expected to press authorities for a ceasefire even as Beijing remains firmly opposed to any foreign intervention in the conflict.

Greece is a step closer to getting a new €130bn bailout after its cabinet signed off on a fresh dose of austerity measures last night.

Greece’s future in the euro grew increasingly precarious as violence erupted on the streets of Athens during a general strike and five politicians resigned from the government after European leaders demanded deeper spending cuts.