In the run up to the 2008 presidential election, Dmitry Medvedev was asked what his first act would be if he got the top job. "I don't think there is anything specific or urgent to be done," he replied. "There are no such issues that are not already being addressed by the government. That's what makes the present situation so attractive."

• June 18, 2010

Economic growth in South Asia has been and continues to be constrained by severe dearth in energy supply.

• June 18, 2010

Foreign diplomats and international organizations are backing a Kyrgyz provisional government decision to proceed with a constitutional referendum in late June, despite the widespread violence in southern Kyrgyzstan.

• June 17, 2010

The St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which starts on Thursday, will be used by Russian officials to promote the Kremlin's push to modernise the country's economy.

• June 17, 2010

An EU leaders' summit faces the challenge of reviving economic growth while reining in the worst public debts for decades.

• June 17, 2010

Following a US report about Afghanistan's valuable mineral resources, the Afghan government is gearing up to seek foreign investment and a public bid to extract these minerals is expected to start later this year.

• June 17, 2010

China announced in late April the sale of two nuclear reactors to Pakistan. This deal is clearly against the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the spirit if not the letter of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)

• June 16, 2010

The sites for two new nuclear power plants, in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and in Belarus, were selected with no environmental assessment and without consulting neighboring countries, Lithuania's president said on Monday.

• June 15, 2010