France

Iran's top leader has rejected a long-term freeze on nuclear research and supports banning international inspectors from accessing military sites as a deadline in negotiations with world powers approaches.

The Australian government on June 24 said it would contribute A$930 million ($718.9 million) over five years to the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), making it the  institution's sixth largest shareholder. 

WikiLeaks announced in a press statement on Tuesday, that the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on the last three French Presidents - Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande.

WikiLeaks referred to top secret intelligence reports and technical documents on the communications of high-level French officials over the past ten years.

Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany called June 23 for a "rapid de-escalation" and "immediate ceasefire" in eastern Ukraine following crisis talks in Paris.

French President Francois Hollande called a secret meeting of his cabinet about the potential consequences of a Greek exit from the euro zone as early as May 2012, WikiLeaks said on Tuesday, citing US National Security Agency secret intelligence reports.

The US is not targeting French leader Francois Hollande's communications and will not do so in the future, the White House said, after documents published by WikiLeaks showed Washington had wiretapped the president and his two predecessors.

French President Francois Hollande had called a secret meeting of his cabinet as early as May 22, 2012, to discuss a possible Greek exit from the eurozone said Wikileaks on Tuesday citing secret intelligence information from the U.S. National Security Agency.

Eurozone private businesses expanded at their fastest pace in four years this month, a survey showed on June 23, providing the clearest signs yet of a solid recovery in the region.

China said on Tuesday it hopes Greece gets out of its debt crisis at an early date.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that China has noted the close communication among the relevant parties surrounding the debt crisis in Greece.

Greece's economic reforms plan includes "harsh" measures the government would not have proposed had it had a choice, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The country this week offered a series of measures, including multiple tax increases, to persuade its creditors to release bailout funds and keep the country from defaulting on its debts as soon as next week.