Resisting US pressure to further scale down oil imports from sanction-hit Iran, India today made it clear that it has to look at the issue involved beyond the energy trade as it has "vital" security stakes in the Gulf region.

• May 8, 2012

World powers should focus on scrapping nuclear weapons and abiding by their own non-proliferation commitments rather than speculating about Iran's peaceful atomic work, the Iranian foreign ministry said

• May 8, 2012

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan's Republican Party won a parliamentary election, early results showed on Monday, in a poll that was seen as a test of democracy in Russia's main ally in the South Caucasus region.

• May 7, 2012

Vladimir Putin took the oath as Russia's president today with a ringing appeal for unity at the start of a six-year term in which he faces growing dissent, economic problems and bitter political rivalries.

• May 7, 2012

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on India Monday to further cut its imports of Iranian oil, saying New Delhi should use its growing clout to help isolate the Islamic republic.

• May 7, 2012

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during March 2012

Key Points:

• Turkey closes its embassy in Syria and openly discusses establishing buffer zones inside its southern neighbour for refugees fleeing the conflict zones.
• There is discontent within Turkey’s Shia Muslim minority about the AKP government’s criticism of the Alawite Assad regime, raising concern about possible ethnic tension in areas near the Turkey-Syria border.
• Turkey releases two high profile journalists under investigation in the Ergenekon trial, but opens a second investigation into comments made by one of them to the press upon his release.
• Iraqi leaders envisage future export routes for the country’s oil through Turkey in case of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while the two countries’ economic ties grow as the Kurdish north becomes a prime export market for Turkish products.
• Turkey will go forward with its lawsuit against Iran for short-supplying on a natural gas contract.
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• April 20, 2012

Azerbaijani ambassador to Tajikistan Abbasali Hasanov met this country`s first deputy foreign minister Mahmudjon Sobirov.

• April 14, 2012

Ukraine has offered to supply electricity to Lithuania, Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov has said, www.interfax.com.ua reports.

• April 14, 2012