Reports this week that the United Arab Emirates is potentially financing Russian mercenaries in Libya affiliated with the notorious Wagner Group, according to a Pentagon watchdog, appear to be sending mini shockwaves through Washington. But the UAE has long had a fixation on mercenaries, and the fact that Russia is …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit staunch ally Azerbaijan on Wednesday in his first visit to the country since a cease-fire between Baku and Yerevan was brokered last month by Moscow.

Japan’s parliament approved Friday a post-Brexit free trade deal with Britain, clearing the way for its enforcement Jan. 1 next year to ensure continuity in bilateral business operations beyond London’s end of transition out of the European Union this month.