The construction of nuclear plants was approved by Turkish Parliament, despite opposition from environmental groups.

Australia has admitted for the first time that securing oil supplies has been a key factor behind its involvement in the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Defense Minister Brendan Nelson says maintaining what he calls "resource security" in the Middle East is a priority for Australia, which still has about 1,500 troops in the region.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev proposed building a canal between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea to ease Central Asian trade with world markets.

China's electricity output is expected to grow by 14 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2007, but demand continues to outrun supply in some areas, according to the nation's top economic planner.

The presidents of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Nursultan Nazarbaev and Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, have held talks that both sides hope will lay the basis for close cooperation between their resource-rich Central Asian countries.

The speaker of Georgia's parliament has called on Europe to diversify its energy resources and back oil and gas pipelines that bypass Russia. Nino Burjanadze said it was important not to depend on a single source for energy and that Tbilisi had suggested Europe use alternatives such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.

A high-level European Union delegation held meetings in Kazakhstan with representatives from the foreign ministries of the five Central Asian states in an effort to get energy resources sent toward EU countries and to press the Central Asian countries to improve their human rights records.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today called on the European Union to build stronger ties with Central Asia. Steinmeier made his comments after talks with senior foreign ministry officials from the five Central Asian states in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

China's largest oil producer reported a gain in net profit for 2006 and FedEx will begin domestic express delivery services in China. Claudia Blume at VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong has more on these and other business stories from the region.