Dutch troops gathered at an air base on Thursday as part of an 11-nation exercise to test NATO's new rapid response targets that have been tightened following concern over new Russian assertiveness.

• April 9, 2015

China and Vietnam have pledged to look for a peaceful resolution to their dispute in the South China Sea via talks, following a meeting between China's president and the head of Vietnam's Communist Party, state news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday.

• April 8, 2015

Firefighters struggled to put out a blaze on a nuclear submarine as it underwent repairs at a shipyard in Russia's northern province of Arkhangelsk on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.

• April 7, 2015

Senate Republicans on Sunday pressed their demand that the U.S. Congress be allowed to vote on a nuclear agreement with Iran, but signaled they are willing to wait for last week's interim agreement to be finalized before passing judgment.

• April 6, 2015

Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan for military aircraft, warships and soldiers, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday, at the start of a parliamentary debate on whether Pakistan should get involved in a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.

• April 6, 2015

Russia hosted talks involving the Syrian government and some opposition figures on Monday, but the main opposition group stayed away and little progress was expected towards ending the Middle East country's conflict.

• April 6, 2015

Lithuania, spooked by Russian military assertiveness, outlined plans on Friday to raise defense spending by a third in 2016, contributing the highest share of its economy to defense since it joined NATO in 2004.

• April 4, 2015

A Chinese naval frigate has evacuated 225 foreign citizens from strife-torn Yemen, its foreign ministry said, marking the first time that China's military has helped other countries evacuate their people during an international crisis.

• April 3, 2015