Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's new leader Xi Jinping will this week discuss political and economic issues during the Chinese president's first foreign visit, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Israel's new coalition government, which includes a strong showing of pro-settlement hardliners, was to be sworn in on Monday just two days before a visit by US President Barack Obama.

China has overtaken Britain to become the world's fifth largest arms exporter with five percent of the global trade, its highest position since the Cold War, a Swedish think tank said on Monday.

Talks resume Monday on a United Nations treaty to regulate the sale of conventional arms -- amid roadblocks put up by some of the world's key players.

Russia said on Monday it saw "no concession" in the US decision to abandon the final phase of its missile shield for Europe while deploying new interceptors against a possible attack from North Korea.

India's top judge said that the Italian ambassador cannot claim diplomatic immunity in a growing dispute over two Italian marines who skipped bail while on trial for murder.

The United States is taking aim at "excessive" business class air travel by UN staff as it presses a campaign to restrain the global body's multi-billion dollar budget.

Japan has protested to Paris over a French firm's sale of helicopter landing equipment to China, at a time of heightened territorial tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

Australia boosted aid and eased restrictions on defence cooperation with Myanmar as Thein Sein became the southeast Asian country's first head of state to visit Canberra since 1974.

US President Barack Obama will effectively begin to build the global legacy he will leave behind on the first foreign trip of his second term next week to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.

The Palestinians are hoping to see concrete gains from US President Barack Obama's upcoming visit, while acknowledging it unlikely the trip will bring about a peace breakthrough.

A French corporal was killed tracking down jihadist fighters in their northern Mali mountain bastions, bringing to five the number of French deaths since Paris launched a military offensive in the country two months ago.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) called Sunday for the International Criminal Court to investigate "crimes" committed by Israel in the territories as it wrapped up four years of investigation.

Israel's new ruling coalition, which is to be sworn in on Monday, is likely to strengthen the hand of the Jewish settler lobby, with key ministerial portfolios handed to its supporters.

Bosco Ntaganda, the Congolese rebel leader wanted by the International Criminal Court for a raft of war crimes, is a feared military commander believed to run a vast extortion empire in the mineral-rich east of the country.

The United States expressed concern Sunday over worsening violence in the Central African Republic and urged its neighbors to "help restore national peace and security."

Lebanon and Jordan are playing with fire by allowing jihadists and weapons to pass across their borders into Syria, the Syrian government newspaper Al-Thawra warned on Sunday.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has a ballistic missile that could hit the United States, the leading lawmaker on the US House of Representatives intelligence committee warned Sunday.

The Democratic Republic of Congo government said Sunday that Bosco Ntaganda, a feared rebel leader wanted by the International Criminal Court for a string of atrocities, has fled to neighbouring Rwanda, but Kigali swifty dismissed the claims.

Former chief of staff Moshe Yaalon was named Israel's new defence minister on Sunday to succeed Ehud Barak, a statement from the ruling rightwing Likud party said.