The UN Security Council voted in favor of new, tougher sanctions against Iran on Wednesday, scuttling a deal forged by Turkey and Brazil that would have let it exchange nuclear material for nuclear fuel from abroad.

• June 10, 2010

Leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran convened at a security summit meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday in a display of regional power that appeared to be calculated to test the United States just one day before a scheduled U.S.-backed debate in the U.N. Security Council on imposing tighter sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.

• June 9, 2010

Iran faces its toughest sanctions for failing to comply with UN demands over its nuclear enrichment, the US says.

• June 9, 2010

The environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has put offshore drilling operations in the Caspian Sea under fresh scrutiny.

• June 9, 2010

Today, as we witness the rapid transformation of the global political and economic systems, it is time to reassess Russia’s economic relations with Arab countries.

• June 9, 2010

President Hu Jintao's participation at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent testifies to China's long-term commitment toward a sustained, healthy and stable development of the organization.

• June 8, 2010

Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a deal on Monday that will provide 11 billion cubic meters (388 billion cubic feet) of Azeri natural gas a year to Turkey beginning as early as 2016

• June 8, 2010

President Barack Obama promised in a letter released on Monday to tackle "serious issues" straining relations with Azerbaijan, an important link in Afghan supply lines and energy export routes to the West.

• June 8, 2010