Running from Putin: Russia's new political refugees
In August, a group of Russian environmentalists were walking along a beach on the Black Sea, just outside the walls surrounding a majestic palace that has been linked to President Vladimir Putin.
29 December 2012
Abbas warns of disbanding PA if no peace talks
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned Thursday that he would disband his Palestinian Authority if there was no Israeli movement toward renewing peace talks after Israel's elections on January 22.
Russia invites Syria opposition chief for talks
Russia, one of the few powers to maintain links with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has sent an invitation for talks to the head of the opposition Syria National Coalition.
29 December 2012
C. Africa leader appeals for help to halt rebel advance
The United States evacuated its embassy in the Central African Republic as the nation's embattled leader appealed for French and US help after rebels seized large swathes of the mineral-rich country.
'Stormin Norman' Schwarzkopf dead at 78 Norman Schwarzkopf, the US general who led Operation Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1991, died on Thursday at the age of 78.
28 December 2012
Pakistan to mark five years since Bhutto murder Pakistan marks the fifth anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, with her son expected to launch his political career with a speech in the family's ancestral home town.
28 December 2012
Former US president Bush in intensive care After more than a month in a Texas hospital battling bronchitis, former US president George H.W. Bush has taken a turn for the worse and is in intensive care with a "stubborn fever".
28 December 2012
Syrian deputy FM Muqdad begins talks in Russia A Syrian government delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad on Thursday began talks at the Russian foreign ministry on the crisis in the country.
28 December 2012
Israel PM met Jordan king in Amman over Syria: media Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman recently to discuss violence in Syria and the country's chemical weapons stock.
Philippines to buy three naval helicopters The Philippines said Thursday it would buy three naval helicopters from an Anglo-Italian manufacturer as part of its military modernisation programme amid a territorial dispute with China.
28 December 2012
Australia plans war games with China: report Australia and China are planning joint military exercises which may also include the United States as the nations work to ensure stability in the region.
27 December 2012
UAE supports 'non-sectarian' change in Syria: FM The UAE supports a "non-sectarian" change in power in war-hit Syria, the WAM official news agency quoted the Gulf state's foreign minister as saying after he met with a top Syrian opposition leader.
27 December 2012
Russia set to advance ban on US adoptions Russia's upper house of parliament was due Wednesday to vote for a bill barring Americans from adopting the country's children, in retaliation for a new piece of human rights legislation in the US.