NATO allies cannot agree to Russian demands to limit their missile defenses because of the threat posed by North Korea, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday.

• January 12, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow over its interference in Ukraine as "absurd."

• January 11, 2016

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow.

• January 11, 2016

Diplomats from Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States, and China held talks in Islamabad to try to draw up a plan for peace talks between in Afghanistan's government and the Taliban.

• January 11, 2016

An attempted attack by Islamic State on a military base in northern Iraq shows Turkey's decision to deploy troops there was justified, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, suggesting Russia was stirring up a row over the issue.

• January 9, 2016

Armed men shot dead a police officer and a soldier in their car on the outskirts of Cairo on Saturday, Egypt's state news agency said, a day after suspected militants armed with knives wounded three European tourists in a Red Sea resort.

• January 9, 2016

Iran's foreign minister has complained to the United Nations about Saudi Arabia's "provocations" toward Tehran, as a diplomatic crisis between the region's two major powers entered its second week.

• January 9, 2016

Iran and Saudi Arabia took further steps to sever commercial ties on Thursday, intensifying a feud between the regional rivals, as Tehran announced a ban on imports from Saudi Arabia and Saudi groups called for boycotts of Iranian products.

• January 7, 2016