Russian warplanes bombed Syrian rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria and government forces pounded a suburb of the capital on Thursday, ahead of a planned halt to fighting which rebels predicted Damascus and Moscow would ignore.

• February 25, 2016

Afghan officials took delivery of 10,000 automatic rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition as a gift from Russia on Wednesday, another sign of deepening involvement by Moscow in the war-torn country.

• February 24, 2016

The United States, which is worried by China's military buildup to assert dominance in the South China Sea, will increase freedom-of-navigation operations there, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday.

• February 24, 2016

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he feared a U.S.-Russian ceasefire plan would do little more than benefit Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and accused the West, Russia and Iran of only seeking to further their own interests.

• February 24, 2016

Three men have been jailed for spying for Russia, Estonia's state prosecutor's office said on Tuesday, an unusual case targeting low-level smugglers that comes amid heightened concern over muscular Russian foreign policy in eastern Europe.

• February 23, 2016

Kurdistan's oil exports to world markets are set to be suspended for a second week running, a shipping source said, a move that will deprive Iraq's semi-autonomous region of its main revenue stream as the security situation in southeast Turkey worsens.

• February 23, 2016

Distracted by an unresolved migration crisis and negotiations on keeping Britain in the European Union, euro zone leaders could be caught unprepared by a new storm on financial markets.

• February 23, 2016

The United States and Russia announced plans for a cessation of hostilities in Syria would take effect on Saturday but exclude militants from the Islamic State, Nusra Front and others the United Nations deems as terrorist groups.

• February 22, 2016