A top Iranian official, in an unusual declaration Saturday, said there remains no trust between Tehran and world powers and either side could yet abandon a nuclear deal after signing.

In comments that laid bare a paradox of long-running negotiations between Iran and the West, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said an agreement -- due by June 30 -- was nearing despite neither side trusting the other.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Friday welcomed Japan's growing security engagement, as regional tensions with China grow, the day after signing a deal to buy 10 ships to bolster his coastguard. 

Closing out a four-day visit to Japan that has highlighted the warm relationship between Manila and Tokyo, Aquino said no one need fear moves by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to beef up the role of the Japanese military.

More than 30,000 people demonstrated Thursday against a G7 summit starting at the weekend in the southern German state of Bavaria, police said.

The peaceful march took place in the state capital Munich, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Alpine venue where Chancellor Angela Merkel is to welcome leaders from the club of rich nations from Sunday.

Greece and its creditors failed to reach a breakthrough at crunch talks in Brussels Thursday despite saying they had made progress towards a deal that could save Athens from a possible euro exit.

Anti-austerity Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in a bid to hammer out a reform plan that could unlock the final 7.2-billion-euro ($8.0-billion) tranche of Greece's bailout.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday criticized Egypt's use of the death penalty but pledged closer economic ties with its partner in the fight against Islamic extremism, during a protest-marred visit by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Merkel stressed the central role of Egypt as an anchor of stability in a conflict-torn region, referring to the Islamic State jihadist group fighting in Iraq and Syria, instability in Libya and Nigeria's Boko Haram militants.

Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl is doing "well under the circumstances" after undergoing two operations, his office said Tuesday, in response to alarming media reports about the health of the man who oversaw reunification.

Kohl, 85, had a hip operation in early May, which went well, and subsequently needed a further operation which prolonged his stay in hospital, a statement said, without specifying what the second operation concerned.

Five prominent rights groups on Monday urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to press for an end to human rights abuses in Egypt when she meets President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi this week.

Sisi, the former army chief who ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and launched a deadly crackdown against his supporters, begins Tuesday a visit to Germany at Merkel's invitation.

The impoverished Gaza Strip is a "powder keg" at risk of exploding, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday during a visit to the war-torn territory.

The German minister, who arrived in the region on Saturday and held talks with top Israeli and Palestinian officials, called for efforts to rebuild the shattered enclave which was ravaged by a 50-day war last summer, the third in six years.

European powerhouses France and Germany on Monday called on the EU to revise its plan to admit asylum seekers landing in Europe, saying there was insufficient "balance".

"Deep discussions are necessary at the European level" to achieve a balance between "responsibility" and "solidarity", said a joint statement from the French and German interior ministers.

European politicians who discovered they were on a previously confidential Russian travel blacklist said Saturday they were proud of being included, as EU governments led by Germany criticized the entry bans.

The 89-strong list, formerly undisclosed but revealed to European diplomats on Thursday, includes past and serving parliamentarians and ministers who have been outspoken critics of President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.