11 Sep 2018, DG: Neighboring giants Russia and China plan to use their own currencies more often in trade deals as relations with the West decline. The Russian president indulged in pancake diplomacy with his Chinese counterpart.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has kicked off the final phase of its campaign against the Islamic State (IS) militants, said the Pentagon on Tuesday.

The SDF, with the help of the U.S.-led coalition, initiated ground operations for Phase Three of Operation Roundup on Monday, aiming to clear the remaining IS forces in Iraq and Syria from northeastern Syria, said the Pentagon in a statement.

12 Sep 2018, DG: In a tense vote, a majority of EU lawmakers backed a motion that opens the door to sanctions against Hungary. Orban's government is accused of silencing independent media, targeting NGOs and removing independent judges.

Members of the European Parliament voted to censure the Hungarian government on Wednesday for eroding democracy and failing to uphold fundamental European Union values.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Feridun Sinirlioglu on Tuesday voiced opposition to the looming offensive on Idlib, Syria, the last rebel-held stronghold in the war-torn country.

Whether to launch an offensive on Idlib was a major point of divergence at a summit last week involving Russia, Iran and Turkey. Russia and Iran proposed the military option while Turkey, which backs some of the opposition groups in Idlib, opposed it.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Japan should sign a peace treaty before the end of the year without any preliminary conditions, he said at a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that providing international guarantees to North Korea in response to steps towards denuclearization would be the best solution.

"What kinds of guarantees can there be? International ones," the head of state said answering questions at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). He recalled that the negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear problem were six-party.

12 Sep 2018, DG: The European Commission president pledged to strengthen the EU border and a new trade agreement with Africa. Juncker pushed for strengthening the bloc's international role, as the US retreats from the world stage.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 12. /TASS/. Russia and China have agreed to get approval for gas supplies via the Power of Siberia’s ‘western route’ in the shortest possible time, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping set the task of getting approval for gas supplies via the western route in the shortest possible time at the talks (with Russian President Vladimir Putin - TASS) yesterday," he said, adding that "an agreement is to be reached regarding around 30 bln cubic meters (of gas)."

UN, September 12. /TASS/. The US-led coalition, which earlier vowed to carry out an airstrike on Syria if chemical weapons are used in the province of Idlib, now says that an offensive would suffice for a military operation, Russia’s UN envoy said on Tuesday.

TSUGOL PROVING GROUND, September 12. /TASS/. Joint military exercises by Russia and China will be held regularly, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.

Shoigu and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe have inspected the Russian and Chinese command centers at the Tsugol proving ground.

After the inspection Fenghe stressed the importance of Russian-Chinese military cooperation at the tactical and strategic levels. The Chinese military-political leadership will be paying unflagging attention to this, he promised.

BEIJING; 12 Sep 2018; (AP) — Amid a worsening tariff battle, China is putting off accepting license applications from American companies in financial services and other industries until Washington makes progress toward a settlement, a business group says.

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday announced the launch of the 'Swachhata Hi Seva Movement' from September 15 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

In a video message, he called upon people to join the movement on Saturday morning.

"I look forward to interacting with those who have worked assiduously on the ground to strengthen the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission after which swachhata (cleanliness) activities will begin," he said.