A top Chinese official has backed ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's plans to hand power to his son, the North's state media said on Tuesday, hailing the "successful solution" to allow continued socialist rule.

• February 15, 2011

Iran’s hostile regime has been one of the chief beneficiaries of the political turmoil that has convulsed Egypt and Tunisia, which distracted the United States and other countries from the ongoing standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

• February 15, 2011

Turkmenistan is seeking a price linked fuel oil or naphtha for the natural gas it plans to sell to India through a USD 7.6 billion pipeline passing through Afghanistan and Pakistan.

• February 15, 2011

The Gorhenin Institute held a round table discussion - Prospects for Ukrainian Business in Russia - on 8 February. Experts and businessmen discussed the most promising areas of cooperation for Russian and Ukrainian business.
President of UPEC Industrial Group Anatoliy Girshfeld considers that Ukrainian business has prospects in Russia in the knowledge-based industry sector while operations in raw material sectors may hampered with strong government regulation. ‘The government actively regulates the raw materials and associated industry sectors and it won’t loose it’s hands on it. This is the main source of the budget income’, - O.Girshfeld said. ‘The state of the knowledge-based industry is a common problem to the entire post-Soviet space. That is why Russia has to allow entering its markets the companies developing in the knowledge-based industry, even in strategic sectors,’ – A.Girshfeld said. READ MORE

• February 15, 2011

“China has an extraordinary demand for high-quality American goods and services,” said Ken Rogers, Automation Alley executive director.

• February 14, 2011

A senior Iranian oil official has announced that the country is to export 1.5 million litres of petrol and diesel per day to Armenia.

• February 14, 2011

An isolated chain of resource-rich, Russian-held islands are at the center of an ongoing diplomatic dispute that recently has hurt relations between Japan and Russia.

• February 14, 2011

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake Jr. will leave on Monday for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to engage in bilateral consultations, the State Department said on Sunday.

• February 14, 2011