Qatar said on Saturday it was hosting a dialogue this weekend between Afghan officials and representatives of the Taliban insurgents on ways to end the country's long war.

• May 2, 2015

The death toll from an air strike by U.S.-led forces on the northern Syrian province of Aleppo has risen to 52 including seven children, a group monitoring the conflict said on Saturday.

• May 2, 2015

Joining the dots and making sense of the key Geopolitical developments in wider Europe, Eurasia and MENA
By George Vlad NICULESCU, Head of Research, European Geopolitical Forum

• The likeliest scenario for Ukraine: a “frozen conflict” in the Donbass with periodical outbursts of violence and European fireman-type interventions
• Brussels think tank kicks off public debate on a new Western strategy against Russia, but leaves questions to be answered
• A common economic space (CES) from Lisbon to Vladivostok: Does it make sense, or is it just a piece of information warfare?
• Russian plans for Turkish Stream: the geopolitics of South Stream intertwined with Turkish ambitions to become a regional energy hub
• Towards a final agreement on the Iranian nuclear file – a genuine cornerstone for geopolitical reshuffling in the Middle-East and beyond?

• May 1, 2015

China will hold joint naval drills with Russia in mid-May in the Mediterranean Sea, the first time the two countries will hold military exercises together in that part of the world, the Chinese Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

• April 30, 2015

China's Defence Ministry expressed concern on Thursday at the Pentagon's updated cyber strategy that stresses the U.S. military's ability to retaliate with cyber weapons, saying this would only worsen tension over Internet security.

• April 30, 2015

After facing weeks of criticism about its reclamation work on disputed islands in the South China Sea, China on Wednesday turned the tables on Vietnam, the Philippines and others by accusing them of carrying out their own illegal building work.

• April 29, 2015

President Barack Obama accused China on Tuesday of "flexing its muscles" to advance its maritime claims against Asian neighbors and assured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the U.S. commitment to defend Japanese territory, including tiny islands in dispute with Beijing.

• April 28, 2015

Iran on Monday demanded that countries possessing nuclear weapons scrap any plans to modernize or extend the life of their atomic arsenals, while branding Israel a threat to the region due to its presumed nuclear stockpile.

• April 27, 2015