Russia and Western powers locked horns over a peace plan for Syria on Saturday as U.N. mediator Kofi Annan warned the conflict could spread across the Middle East and beyond.

• June 30, 2012

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to raise pressure on Russia on Thursday ahead of a crucial meeting on the Syria crisis, saying all countries involved must back international mediator Kofi Annan's detailed plan for a political transition

• June 29, 2012

South Korea postponed on Friday the signing with Japan of an agreement to share sensitive military information in the face of anger over a pact with a former colonial ruler that critics say was negotiated behind the scenes.

• June 29, 2012

Russia is planning the evacuation of Russians who are living in Syria. While the Western powers have prevented the confectionary redelivery of three (repaired) old Soviet helicopters to Syria, the country is now filled with modern NATO weapons. After the grouchy joint press conference by Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama is the first serious information about the situation in Syria a message on vedomosti.ru.

• June 22, 2012

The Arab League demanded on Thursday that Russia stop supplying arms to Syria, as a regime onslaught of Homs and its surrounds appeared to stall a Red Cross bid to rescue trapped civilians.

• June 21, 2012

A Russian court on Wednesday convicted two professors of a St.Petersburg university of handing over missile secrets to China, the latest in a string of espionage cases that reflected underlying tensions between Moscow and Beijing despite declarations of cooperation and friendship.

• June 20, 2012

Stability in South Asia will remain a "distant dream" as long as the Kashmir issue remains unresolved and Pakistan must strive for a "just solution" of the dispute, the country's second-highest ranking military official has said.

• June 16, 2012

Russia's chief arms exporter said Friday that his company was shipping advanced defensive missile systems to Syria that could be used to shoot down airplanes or sink ships if the United States or other Western nations try to intervene to halt the country's spiral of violence.

• June 16, 2012