North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of existing U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from around the world, including from its only major ally, China, which summoned the North Korean ambassador to protest.

• February 12, 2013

Azerbaijani gas will be supplied from the Shah Deniz offshore gas condensate field to Europe in 2019, SOCAR Vice-President Elshad Nasirov said at a meeting of the Euronest PA Energy Committee in Baku today.

• February 12, 2013

Given the politicisation of Iran's nuclear programme issue, its solution requires time and patience, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in an interview with the Russian service of the Iranian IRIB News TV channel.

• February 11, 2013

China and Japan engaged on Friday in a fresh round of invective over military movements near a disputed group of uninhabited islands, fuelling tension that for months has bedeviled relations between the Asian powers.

• February 11, 2013

India has rejected claims made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar about Jammu and Kashmir at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Cairo.

• February 9, 2013

Russian authorities reiterated, on January 22, pledges of increased economic engagement with Central Asia. The foreign ministry advocated plans to develop economic and trade ties with the region, while other officials urged the creation of a Russian state corporation that would encourage economic development there (Regnum, January 22).

• February 9, 2013

Ashgabat hosted a meeting of the Turkmen-Russian commission for economic cooperation, an official Turkmen source said today.

• February 8, 2013

Russian and Kazakh experts and relevant departments have reconciled positions on the Baikonur spaceport, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev said

• February 8, 2013