Energy-rich Azerbaijan is ready to supply half its natural gas extracts to the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline intended to pump gas to Europe, a presidential administration official said on Thursday. Nabucco, whose planned pipeline would bypass Russia, is a rival project to the Kremlin-backed South Stream gas pipeline.

• May 8, 2010

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said his government is interested to pursue a foreign policy that will balance relations with its strategic partners, both in the East and the West.

• May 7, 2010

Bulgaria has reportedly unsuccessfully courted Romania as it angles for a new chief investor in its second nuclear power plant Belene to replace the German energy company RWE, which withdrew last autumn.

• May 7, 2010

Eurozone leaders gather on Friday for a key economic summit, amid fears that the single European currency may collapse. Greece will dominate the agenda, but France and Germany's leaders say there is much more at stake.

• May 7, 2010

Voting is over in Britain's general election, and results are frantically being counted. Early exit polls indicate the Conservative party will win the most seats, but will also fall short of a parliamentary majority.

• May 7, 2010

The German government has failed to win backing from opposition parties for its bill to participate in the Greece bailout. The law is however, still expected to pass on Friday.

• May 7, 2010

WITH the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf, talk has once again turned to clean energy. What few people appreciate is that the demand for everything from solar panels to energy-efficient light bulbs is already booming. Worldwide, $162 billion was spent in new clean-tech investments in 2009 alone.

• May 7, 2010

President Obama is preparing to revive a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Moscow that his predecessor shelved two years ago in protest of Russia’s war with Georgia, an American ally, administration officials said Thursday.

• May 7, 2010