World powers and Iran held unusually detailed talks on Wednesday about how it could show its nuclear work is not a disguised quest for atom bombs, in a Baghdad meeting aimed at halting a slide toward a new Middle East war.

• May 23, 2012

India is expected to sign an agreement with Turkmenistan this week that will secure 38 million standard cubic meters per day gas supply from the Central Asian country at around $11.5/unit, government officials said. Oil minister Jaipal Reddy is visiting Turkmenistan on Tuesday to sign the gas sale purchase agreement (GAPA) this week, officials said.

• May 21, 2012

China is interested in the development of Tegene coal deposit in Kyrgyzstan, CA-News reported on Wednesday.

• May 21, 2012

A South Korean joint venture in energy-rich Uzbekistan said on Saturday it had secured a $2.5 billion credit line to build a new chemical and gas production unit by 2016.

• May 19, 2012

American negotiators, heading into a crucial round of talks with Iran over its nuclear program next week in Baghdad, are allowing themselves a rare emotion after more than a decade of fruitless haggling with Tehran: hope.

• May 19, 2012

Ukraine and Poland have signed a number of agreements on economic cooperation. The sides signed a protocol, an agreement on social assistance, and an administrative agreement on it, reads a press release of the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine distributed at a press conference following a meeting of the Ukrainian-Polish Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation.

• May 19, 2012

Bulgaria managed to negotiate special terms for the supply of Russian gas regardless of its abrupt withdrawal from the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the Belene NPP energy projects, Russian media outlets note.

• May 18, 2012

Iran's talks with the UN nuclear watchdog about Tehran's atomic activities are going well, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, the second day of discussions.

• May 15, 2012