Iran has unilaterally suspended talks aimed at defusing longstanding tensions with regional rival Saudi Arabia, Iranian state media reported on March 13.
Turkmenistan is holding a snap presidential election on March 12 that is widely viewed as a formality to transfer political power from autocratic incumbent Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to his son, Serdar.
Pope Francis said that "increasingly alarming scenarios" are emerging in Ukraine and he urged all sides to refrain from actions that could cause suffering to the people in the region.
Election officials in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan have announced that the registration of candidates for an early presidential election on March 12 has ended.