When Japan's defense minister greeted the deputy chief of staff of China's army at a regional security forum this weekend, he was undiplomatically snubbed.

• June 1, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Kazakhstan and Belarus on Thursday into a new Eurasian Economic Union built to rival the United States, EU and China - but the absence of Ukraine undermined his dream of restoring Soviet glory days.

• May 30, 2014

A crude oil tanker at the center of a dispute between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad has reversed course from its route towards the United States, ship-tracking data showed on Friday, indicating that the shipper may not have a buyer.

• May 30, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone call with his French counterpart Francois Hollande on Friday, urged a halt to bloodshed in Ukraine and the start of talks between Kiev and eastern separatists.

• May 30, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with Kazakhstan and Belarus on Thursday creating a vast trading bloc which he hopes will challenge the economic might of the United States, the European Union and China.

• May 29, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined a plan to withdraw all but 9,800 American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and pull out the rest by the end of 2016, ending more than a decade of military engagement triggered by the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

• May 28, 2014

Vietnam and China traded accusations on Tuesday over the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat not far from where China has parked an oil rig in the disputed South China Sea, as tensions fester between the two countries over the giant drilling platform.

• May 27, 2014

Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz said on Tuesday no real progress was made with Russia's Gazprom over its gas debt or on price in talks in Berlin aimed at settling a dispute that threatens to disrupt gas flows to western Europe.

• May 27, 2014