Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif departed Saturday for talks in the United States, with the Afghan peace process and the prickly issue of Washington's drone campaign likely to top the agenda.
International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi begins a Middle East tour Saturday to pave the way for proposed peace talks on Syria, where dozens of people were killed in the latest fighting in Aleppo province.
Syria says peace talks could be possible next month amid international efforts to push for a conference in Geneva as a top military intelligence officer was killed in clashes with rebels.
World powers will meet for fresh talks with Iran on its controversial nuclear programme on Tuesday, as hopes rise for a more conciliatory approach from the new Tehran government.
Asia-Pacific leaders opened an annual economic summit on Monday in the shadow of global growth clouds that are darkening by the day as the United States struggles to shake off policy paralysis.
Talks between an exasperated President Barack Obama and top Republicans failed to end a government shutdown, with both sides accusing the other of refusing to negotiate.
US President Barack Obama and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani spoke by phone Friday in the historic, first direct contact between leaders of their estranged nations since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
In a diplomatic breakthrough, the foreign ministers of arch rivals, the US and Iran, will hold their first talks on Tehran's contested nuclear drive at a landmark meeting.
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani said Thursday his government was ready to "help facilitate dialogue" between the Syrian government and the opposition.
A code of conduct for handling disputes in the South China Sea should be discussed "gradually", Beijing said after meetings with Southeast Asian nations, suggesting any agreement is still far off.
Prime Minister David Cameron will push the EU to curb migrants' access to British welfare payments during talks ahead of the country's membership referendum.
Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel meets his Asian counterparts on Wednesday as the United States promotes its shift to the region but a potential showdown with Syria looms over the talks.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai flew into Islamabad on Monday for key talks with Pakistan's newly elected government, searching for communication with Taliban insurgents to end 12 years of war.
North and South Korea held talks Friday on resuming reunions for families separated for decades by the 1950-53 Korean War as they seek to build on a recent easing of cross-border tensions.
Egypt's hardline military leader pledged a "forceful" response to violence rocking the country, as top EU officials prepared Monday to hold emergency talks on the crisis that has claimed nearly 800 lives in five days.
Israel and the Palestinians are to hold their first direct talks in almost three years on Wednesday, overshadowed by a deepening rift over settlements and following the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners.
