The leaked U.S. diplomatic cables that portray Russia as a virtual mafia state are "total nonsense" of doubtful authenticity, the spokesman of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

• December 3, 2010

The Russian Ambassador to Pakistan said that his country had asked Pakistan to sign over Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Addressing a roundtable, Russian Ambassador Andrey Budnik said that Russia had been persuading Pakistan, India and Israel for signing the NPT to make the world free of nuclear weapons.

• December 3, 2010

A continuing tense diplomatic standoff between US and China is a further sign that the Obama administration is exploiting the tensions on the Korean peninsula, inflamed by last week’s exchange of shelling between the two Koreas, to intensify American pressure against China.

• December 3, 2010

Authorities declared a state of emergency in three Balkan nations on Thursday — Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro — after heavy rain caused some of the worst flooding in over 100 years.

• December 3, 2010

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan to meet with government leaders and greet U.S. troops.

• December 2, 2010

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin responded Wednesday to criticism of Russia revealed in United States diplomatic cables published by the Web site WikiLeaks, warning Washington not to interfere in Russian domestic affairs.

• December 2, 2010

Russia announced Wednesday that it had created the world's first international atomic fuel bank as part of a global effort to curb the spread of nuclear arms.

• December 2, 2010

In a surprise victory for President Obama's campaign to secure nuclear material worldwide, the government of Belarus announced Wednesday that it will give up its stock of highly enriched uranium, a critical component of nuclear weapons.

• December 2, 2010