Alexander Lukashenko, the hardline president of Belarus, and Mikhail Saakashvili, the leader of Georgia, have forged an unlikely political alliance in a "media war" with the Kremlin.

• July 24, 2010

China's reported move to construct two more nuclear power plants in Pakistan was expected to be discussed at the 46-member Nuclear Supplies Group's five-day meeting at Christchurch, New Zealand last month.

• July 24, 2010

Turkey needs large investments in its energy infrastructure to avoid bottlenecks in supply, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said yesterday, adding that the government should accelerate efforts to reform its energy market to attract these investments.

• July 24, 2010

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived with a visit to Finland. He will discuss a wide range of issues with Tarja Halonen, from big politics to economics and visas. They may also discuss numerous family scandals involving mixed Russian-Finnish families.

• July 23, 2010

While Washington sleeps, China is winning the great new game in Central Asia, locking up its rich natural resources.

• July 23, 2010

Due to frequent blast incidents on the railway in Russia's Dagestan republic demand for tickets for trains leaving Azerbaijan in that direction has fallen by up to 30 percent, Azerbaijan Railways chief engineer Gurban Nazirov said.

• July 23, 2010

India and Iran have decided to give new direction to their bilateral ties that have been dormant for some time now.

• July 23, 2010

A media report earlier this week said China had overtaken the US as the world's biggest energy consumer. The report was based on an interview with Fatih Birol, chief economist of International Energy Agency (IEA). Although a day later Chinese officials refuted the claim, the Western media were quick to shed crocodile tears over an "energy-hungry dragon".

• July 23, 2010