The Philippines is planning another challenge of a Chinese naval blockade of a disputed shoal in the South China Sea by sending civilian ships with supplies to its troops stationed there, a senior military official said on Thursday.

• March 14, 2014

Russia said on Friday any U.S. sanctions imposed against Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine would boomerang back on the United States, raising the financial stakes as the military standoff intensified.

• March 7, 2014

Ukraine is ready to use military force to defend itself if Russia further expands its presence on Ukrainian soil, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Thursday, emphasizing that Ukraine would not be made subordinate to its neighbor.

• March 6, 2014

Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum within 10 days on the decision in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.

• March 6, 2014

The Israeli navy seized a ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday that was carrying dozens of advanced Iranian-supplied rockets made in Syria and intended for Palestinian guerrillas in the Gaza Strip, the military said.

• March 5, 2014

NATO announced a full review of its cooperation with Russia on Wednesday to try to pressure Moscow into backing down on Ukraine and said it would suspend planning for a joint mission linked to Syrian chemical weapons.

• March 5, 2014

Depositors wanting to withdraw money from a rural bank in eastern China's prosperous Jiangsu province ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday found the doors locked, their money gone and employees offering a simple explanation.

• March 5, 2014

President Vladimir Putin delivered a robust defense of Russia's actions in Crimea on Tuesday and said he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort, easing market fears that East-West tension over the former Soviet republic could lead to war.

• March 4, 2014