China and Japan agreed on Friday to work on improving ties and signaled willingness to put a bitter row over disputed islands on the back burner, paving the way for their leaders to meet at an Asian-Pacific summit next week.
Germany and Brazil are pushing the United Nations to be tougher on spying by beefing up an earlier U.N. resolution raising concerns that mass surveillance, interception of digital communications and personal data collection could harm human rights.
The chief mediator between South Sudan's warring rivals said he was not eager to back penalties against them, even though fighting had broken out again and the United States was trying to impose international sanctions in the conflict-torn country.
Ukraine's prime minister once said he and the emergency government which took power after pro-European protests in February were on a "suicide" mission, fated to take unpopular decisions that would cut short their political careers.
