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It is almost a certainty now that Finland and Sweden will join NATO, making it the biggest political and military redrawing of the European map since the countries of Central and Eastern Europe joined the military alliance in different waves in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Kazakhstan will temporarily restrict exports of wheat and wheat flour starting on April 15. A ripple effect of the war in Ukraine, the move is bad news for Central Asian countries that rely on Kazakhstan for more than 90 percent of their wheat imports.

A journalist's hobby of photographing the hidden architectural treasures of Ukraine's capital city takes on new significance amid the destruction of war.

For weeks, civilians and defenders of Ukraine's Azov Sea port of Mariupol have been trapped inside the besieged city, which Russia sees as a crucial strategic goal. As the Russians press their attack, efforts to evacuate civilians and provide humanitarian aid are being stymied.

U.S, Iran at loggerheads in nuclear talks; some food items in Iran have increased tenfold; and growing tensions between Tehran and the Taliban.

Sinostan, a new book from Raffaello Pantucci and Alexandros Petersen, explores China's reluctant influence in Central Asia and what it means moving forward.

In the wake of the withdrawal of Russian forces from around Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, numerous allegations of rapes committed by Russian soldiers are emerging. Ukrainian prosecutors are probing whether the alleged incidents indicate a policy of war crimes approved by the Russian authorities.

Russian military patrols prowl the streets, Russian channels fill the airwaves, and the occupying forces take a cut of the fishermen’s catch. Phone service is dead, and protests have been quashed. This is life in Berdyansk, an Azov Sea port city seized by Russian forces days after the invasion.

A veteran human rights lawyer who was the lead prosecutor at the trial of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic says building a war crimes indictment against Russian forces -- even Russian President Vladimir Putin -- "is a substantial task" but "not necessarily" difficult.

Across Russia, schoolchildren and preschoolers are participating in various demonstrations in support of the country’s war in Ukraine. Schools, local administrations, and the ruling United Russia party are posting photos of the children on social media in an apparently coordinated effort.