Thermal coal producers in Asia Pacific are likely to feel some short-term financial impact from Japan's recent earthquake and tsunami, according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

• March 24, 2011

Future prospects for cooperation between China and Kazakhstan were high on the agenda during President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to Beijing on February 21. This overshadowed all other complicated and long-drawn out issues like the water sharing on Ili and Irtysh Rivers, on which a preliminary agreement was reached and the talks on Transborder Rivers, as it was disclosed to journalists, will be finalized during the trip by the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, to Kazakhstan scheduled for June.

• March 24, 2011

Expressing support for Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy 'consistent with their international obligations', India has called for intensification of efforts to address the Iranian nuclear issue through peaceful dialogue.

• March 23, 2011

Ukraine's joining a free trade area with the European Union will depend on greater flexibility and a readiness for a compromise with EU member states, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.

• March 22, 2011

Bulgaria has confirmed its interest in buying natural gas from Turkmenistan, as well as its commitment to facilitate gas exports, the Economy Ministry said in a statement

• March 21, 2011

NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai’s first visits to Tbilisi and Yerevan that were scheduled for next week were postponed due to developments in the North Africa.

• March 19, 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed prospects for further cooperation within the EurAsEC framework, the pace of formation of the Customs Union, as well as a range of regional problems, including the situation in Central Asia, aide of the Russian president Sergei Prikhodko said speaking about a meeting of the two countries’ leaders held on Friday.

• March 19, 2011

Russia on Thursday weighed alternatives for its ambitious South Stream gas pipeline project amid reports that Turkey was purposely delaying its approval of the route through its Black Sea waters.

• March 18, 2011