China appears to be pressing ahead with plans to invest in a North Korean free trade zone in a sign that its recent nuclear test has not soured its economic ties with its only major ally.

• March 1, 2013

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Bulgaria to protest against corruption and the country's rising cost of living.

• February 25, 2013

Opposition politician Andrei Sannikov, recently released from jail in his native Belarus, urged the international community to impose tougher sanctions on his country to end human rights abuses

• February 23, 2013

Ukraine has signed a contract for the supply of natural gas with an annual volume of up to five billion cubic meters (bcm) with Germany's RWE, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said.

• February 22, 2013

South Korea will hold a nuclear cooperation forum in South Africa on Wednesday (South African time) to create a friendly atmosphere to bid for the upcoming orders of nuclear power plants from the African country.

• February 20, 2013

International observers say Armenia's presidential vote was an improvement on recent elections but was not genuinely competitive.

• February 19, 2013

Armenians have been casting their ballots in the country's latest presidential election.

• February 18, 2013

Ukraine has reached a tentative agreement with Turkmenistan to resume imports of natural gas from the Central Asian country.

• February 16, 2013