DUBAI (Reuters) — Saudi Arabia has urged the United States to change course in Iraq and warned against the break-up of the country along ethnic or religious lines amid growing sectarian violence, a newspaper said on Saturday.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) —The UN interim special representative for Sudan, Jan Eliasson, said he will leave for African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa later Friday to find a solution to the bloodshed in Darfur.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced increased criticism and plummeting polls Friday after returning empty-handed from a summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as debate rages over sending more US troops to Iraq, there are differing views about whether economic incentives such as micro-loans and US-funded jobs programmes would coax fighters to trade guns for tools.

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Saturday threatened to “review” relations with countries which criticised the bungled execution of Saddam Hussein, saying the hanging was an internal matter.

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iranian reformist parliamentarians on Saturday blamed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government for failing to prevent United Nations sanctions.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- A senior Pakistani lawmaker voiced his country’s support for the construction of Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, stressing that Tehran-Islamabad cordial ties will enter a new phase following the endorsement of the pipeline construction contract.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- A former senior Iranian nuclear negotiator stressed the need for the two parties in Iran’s nuclear standoff to harness the present crisis.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Chinese Ambassador to Tehran underlined the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities, and further stressed that the Islamic Republic has always been opposed to the proliferation of nuclear arms.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran’s Oriental Oil Kish is due to receive ownership of Fortuna and Orient drilling platforms from the Romanian company GSP, an informed source said here on Saturday.