Two Philippine military planes chased Chinese patrol boats from disputed waters in the South China Sea on March 2. The Philippine military claims that the patrol boats were harassing a Philippine vessel belonging to a private oil firm conducting seismic explorations of the natural gas and oil reservoirs in the Reed Bank, located 240 kilometers off the west coast of Palawan.

• March 5, 2011

Amid the talk in Washington and London of military intervention in Libya, Tim Coles considers how the Anglo-American portrayal of Mu’ammar Gaddafi changed from bogeyman to friend when it became apparent that he would grant oil contracts to various Western companies.

• March 5, 2011

The Chechen Islamist rebel leader who is Russia's most wanted man has issued an appeal for recruits for a "total war" against the Russian state, in a new video message

• March 4, 2011

Kazakh Ambassador to Turkey Zhanseit Tuimebayev has also been appointed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev as the ambassador to Albania, the Presidential Press Service reported.

• March 4, 2011

ISSUE #06
02/28/2011

President Viktor Yanukovych has created a group of scholars and experts who will set up a Constitutional Assembly to amend the Ukrainian constitution. Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk was appointed as the head of the group. The presidential administration said that the Constitutional Assembly would draw up a new draft of the nation's fundamental law. “This draft will be widely debated by the public and then sent to parliament as a presidential bill,” the president's press service explained. READ MORE

• March 4, 2011

The EBRD and the Government of Bulgaria have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 2 to boost competitiveness of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) through investments in energy efficiency in order to strengthen the transition of the South East European country towards a green economy.

• March 3, 2011

Belarus has not yet answered questions regarding the nuclear power plant's environmental impact, states the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

• March 3, 2011

Russia is demanding that Japan investigate a protest that took place outside the Russian embassy in Tokyo, and warning that it could open its own criminal case in the matter.

• March 3, 2011