The start of the weeks-long process brings the controversial Bushehr plant another step closer to operation. Iran says the facility will generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity, but Western nations fear it is to be used to produce atomic weapons.

• October 27, 2010

Nato officials explore joint initiatives ahead of landmark alliance summit, which is to include President Medvedev

• October 27, 2010

Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies will not allow the destabilization of the domestic situation, Keneshbek Dushebayev, head of the Kyrgyz Security Service said.

• October 27, 2010

Turkmenistan and Russia bolstered their natural gas relationship on Friday during a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev to his counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, with both sides hedging their bets as the Chinese market grows and the European one shrinks.

• October 26, 2010

Yerevan and Moscow have confirmed their interest in cooperation for development of nuclear energy in Armenia, says a protocol adopted at the end of the recurrent meeting of Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission held last Saturday in Russia’s city of Yekaterinburg. The meeting was chaired by Armenian prime minister Tigran Sarkisian and Russian transport minister Igor Levitin.

• October 26, 2010

The United States has been forcing other countries to comply with the United Nations sanctions against Iran, and it has been blaming Chinese companies for breaking the embargoes on Iran.

• October 26, 2010

The leaders of India and Japan were set to sign a sweeping agreement Monday on boosting trade while the visiting Indian prime minister pushed for a nuclear energy deal -- a touchy issue for Tokyo because of India's past atomic test blasts.

• October 25, 2010

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazerbayev is set to this week visit Brussels and Paris, aiming to strengthen economic ties between the resource-rich central Asian nation and the European Union.

• October 25, 2010