Love him or hate him, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military intervention in Syria unquestionably upended Middle Eastern politics. Putin supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, established several military bases in Syria, created a de-facto Russian-Shi’ite axis, confronted Turkey and forced the West to re-engage with him.

• January 14, 2016

Saudi Arabia plans to create a new sovereign fund to manage part of its oil wealth and diversify its investments, and has asked investment banks and consultancies to submit proposals for the project, according to people familiar with the matter

• January 14, 2016

Ukraine says it will for the first time ship goods to Kazakhstan along a route bypassing Russia, due to the Kremlin’s trade embargo on Kyiv.

• January 12, 2016

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

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

The Russian currency has dropped to 74.58 per dollar, the weakest ever on a closing basis.

• January 6, 2016

Kyiv says it will approve a ban on the import of some Russian goods in response to similar actions by Moscow.

• December 30, 2015

Taiwan's opposition leader and presidential frontrunner on Sunday called on China to respect the island's democratic process and said she believes Beijing will have a "rational attitude" when dealing with her independence-leaning party.

• December 27, 2015