Eurasia

NATO chief Fogh Rasmussen gave assurances to President Tomislav Nikolić on Thursday that Kosovo security forces would not grow into an army. “Serbia is a key factor of peace and stability in the region,” Rasmussen said during talks with Nikolić on the sidelines of the session of the United Nations …

A team of UN experts investigating alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria expects to complete its in-country work by Monday, the United Nations said on Friday. In a statement issued from Damascus, the UN said the team would investigate seven alleged attacks and “expects to finalise its activities in the …

Turkish President Abdullah Gül said he discussed the ongoing Syria conflict in depth with the United States President Barack Obama while having lunch in New York. Gül told reporters afterwards that Obama was at the same lunch table as he was, which gave the two the opportunity

Tuareg and Arab rebels, who control northern Mali, announced on Thursday the suspension of negotiations with the Bamako government, dealing a blow to hopes of a durable peace. The central issue is the future status of northern Mali, which the Tuareg movements call “Azawad.” The rebels are seeking autonomy, something …

Kenya on Thursday buried victims of a four-day mall massacre by Islamist gunmen as international forensic and security experts scanned the rubble for bodies and clues. Weeping mourners from multiple religions gathered for the latest funerals of the 67 victims whose bodies have so far been recovered from the wreckage …

China and India will hold a two-day meeting in Beijing to discuss border affairs, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday. The fourth Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination over China-India Border Affairs

US President Barack Obama looks forward to meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Washington tomorrow to discuss a wide range of issues and their shared objectives, the White House has said. “He (Obama) very much looks forward to the meeting,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters ahead …

Damascus Syria is committed to the convention against chemical weapons it signed under a US-Russian deal and sees “no obstacles” to its implementation, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview broadcast Thursday. Speaking to Venezuela’s Telesur, the Syrian leader insisted that his regime was complying with a deal under which …

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday to say that Serbia has neither de jure nor de facto “recognized Kosovo.” The EU-mediated agreement reached with Priština in April “in no way means that Belgrade intends to accept Kosovo’s accession to the UN and …

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York, where they are attending the UN Nations General Assembly. Mrkić said that he and Lavrov spoke about progress in the preparations for the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Serbia.