The United States, which is worried by China's military buildup to assert dominance in the South China Sea, will increase freedom-of-navigation operations there, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday.

• February 24, 2016

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he feared a U.S.-Russian ceasefire plan would do little more than benefit Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and accused the West, Russia and Iran of only seeking to further their own interests.

• February 24, 2016

Kurdistan's oil exports to world markets are set to be suspended for a second week running, a shipping source said, a move that will deprive Iraq's semi-autonomous region of its main revenue stream as the security situation in southeast Turkey worsens.

• February 23, 2016

The United States and Russia announced plans for a cessation of hostilities in Syria would take effect on Saturday but exclude militants from the Islamic State, Nusra Front and others the United Nations deems as terrorist groups.

• February 22, 2016

The agreements between Russia and the U.S. on a ceasefire in Syria are a real step toward halting the bloodshed and can be an example of action against terrorism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

• February 22, 2016

It is likely the numbers of migrants coming to Greece from Turkey will not drop in the coming weeks despite a European Union agreement and the EU should take steps to prepare new options, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday.

• February 22, 2016

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday he and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov had reached a provisional agreement on terms of a cessation of hostilities in Syria and the sides were closer to a ceasefire than ever before.

• February 21, 2016

Russia asked the United Nations Security Council on Friday to call for Syria's sovereignty to be respected, for cross-border shellings and incursions to be halted and for "attempts or plans for foreign ground intervention" to be abandoned.

• February 19, 2016