The U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs took a step Monday toward mending frayed relations between their powerful militaries, though China warned ties could be cut again if Washington does not heed Beijing's wishes.

• January 10, 2011

The European Union has turned down an offer from Iran to tour its nuclear facilities, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said on Friday, but remains optimistic about talks with Tehran later this month. Iran has sent letters to a number of ambassadors to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, inviting them to visit two sites - the Natanz uranium enrichment plant and the Arak heavy water complex - in the coming weeks.

• January 8, 2011

Steve Coll, the president of the New America Foundation and a South Asia expert, has raised the issue of the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in the wake of the assassination of the governor of most populous Punjab state by one of his bodyguards. It’s a question that comes up each time Pakistan is faced with a crisis whether it a major act of violence such as this or a political/economic meltdown or a sudden escalation of tensions with India obviously, but also the United States.

• January 7, 2011

At the risk of angering its close ally the US but while safeguarding its own national interests, Turkey has been developing its ties with neighboring Iran while making intense efforts to end a lengthy stalemate between the international community and Tehran over its nuclear ambitions.

• January 6, 2011

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, on a mission to resuscitate moribund military relations with China, will not arrive in Beijing for talks with the nation's top military leaders until Sunday. But at an airfield in Chengdu, a metropolis in the nation's center, China's military leaders have already rolled out a welcome for him.

• January 6, 2011

Turkey is among countries that were invited by Iran on Tuesday to visit key nuclear facilities, officials said, while noting that the invitation was conveyed to Turkey’s permanent representative to the UN nuclear watchdog in Vienna.

• January 6, 2011

The presence of India and other key regional powers on the Security Council starting this week gives the U.N.'s most powerful body more credibility and legitimacy because it now reflects the world in the 21st century, India's U.N. ambassador

• January 5, 2011

Iran has invited Russia, China, the European Union and its allies among the Arab and developing world to tour its nuclear sites, in an apparent move to gain support ahead of a new round of talks with six world powers.

• January 4, 2011