Talks of a cease-fire in Ukraine have centered on the Donbas, a valued region for both sides and where most of the fighting is taking place. Michael Schwirtz, a global intelligence correspondent, and Anatoly Kurmanaev, a foreign correspondent covering Russia, break down who the Donbas is important to and why.

A series of border skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia escalated into a military conflict in July that killed dozens of people and rattled the region. As negotiations take place, Sui-Lee Wee, The New York Times’s Southeast Asia bureau chief, talks to Katrin Bennhold, a senior writer on the International desk, about the context behind the evolving dispute.