Iran and Saudi Arabia took further steps to sever commercial ties on Thursday, intensifying a feud between the regional rivals, as Tehran announced a ban on imports from Saudi Arabia and Saudi groups called for boycotts of Iranian products.

• January 7, 2016

Saudi Arabia’s execution on Jan. 2 of an outspoken Shi’ite cleric who called for the overthrow of the Saudi royal family triggered international condemnation and set off protests throughout the Middle East. Demonstrators stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and set the building on fire. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ratcheted up the rhetoric, declaring: “God’s hand of retaliation will grip the neck of Saudi leaders.” By Jan. 3, the kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Iran, a move followed by several Saudi allies.

• January 7, 2016

The United States called on China on Thursday to end "business as usual" with its ally North Korea after Pyongyang defied world powers by announcing it had tested a hydrogen bomb.

• January 7, 2016

Russia has rejected Ankara's accusation that it was arbitrarily denying visas to the Turkish budget carrier Pegasus.

• January 6, 2016

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said talks are needed with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the countries to forge a peace treaty.

• January 4, 2016

Saudi Arabia has cut diplomatic relations with its regional rival, Iran, after attacks on the Saudi Embassy and consulate in Tehran over the execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric by Riyadh.

• January 4, 2016

A new appraisal names the United States as one of the threats to Russia's national security for the first time, a sign of how relations with the west have deteriorated in recent years.

• January 2, 2016

Vietnam formally accused China of violating its sovereignty and a recent confidence-building pact on Saturday by landing a plane on an airstrip Beijing has built in a contested part of the South China Sea.

• January 2, 2016