U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Russia and the United States on Wednesday to help revive stalled peace talks aimed at ending Syria's three-year-old civil war, saying it was time to put an end to the bloodshed that has torn Syria apart.

• March 12, 2014

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during February 18-28th- 2014
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Ukraine loses control of the Crimean Peninsula, to the dismay of the region’s Muslim Tatar population.
• Turkey’s historical and cultural ties to the Crimean Tatars increase the chance that the conflict escalates. However, its connections may also offer a path for Turkish diplomatic efforts to intercede in further confrontation between Russia and the West.
• Leaked audio tapes appear to implicate Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan and his son of wrongdoing in the corruption scandal, though their authenticity remains disputed.
• Erdogan hits back following the recordings release, claiming that the international media, the Gulen Movement and other outside powers are behind the investigations.
• The peace process with the Kurds remains frozen as Abdullah Ocalan appears to warn the Gulen Movement against undermining the country by attempting a coup.

• March 12, 2014

Major world equity markets were mildly negative on Tuesday, the euro edged down and gold rose as traders kept an eye on tensions between Ukraine and Russia and the pace of growth in China.

• March 11, 2014

Ukraine's government appealed for Western help on Tuesday to stop Moscow annexing Crimea but the Black Sea peninsula, overrun by Russian troops, seemed fixed on a course that could formalize rule from Moscow within days.

• March 11, 2014

U.S. lawmakers will consider legislation on Wednesday that would impose strict sanctions on Russia over its intervention in Ukraine, implement reforms of the International Monetary Fund and provide aid to the new government in Kiev.

• March 11, 2014

China said on Monday that coast guard ships had driven away two Philippine vessels which had tried to approach a shoal in the South China Sea in the latest flare-up of a long-running territorial dispute.

• March 10, 2014

Banks will return 11.401 billion euros ($15.78 billion) in crisis loans to the European Central Bank next week, more than six times than the amount that was expected, accelerating the drain of extra cash out of the euro zone financial system.

• March 10, 2014

Unidentified armed men fired in the air as they moved into a Ukrainian naval post in Crimea on Monday in the latest confrontation since Russian military groups seized control of the Black Sea peninsula.

• March 10, 2014