ISLAMABAD – A suicide bomber killed at least 38 people at a funeral of a policeman in the Swat district of Pakistan, days after the Pakistan army said it had begun to bring the mountainous region under control.

LAHORE, Pakistan – A Pakistani court acquitted the brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday in a case of unlawful killing, paving the way for him to contest a by-election, his lawyer said.

GAZA – Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians during clashes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, said hospital staff, keeping up pressure on the Hamas-ruled territory after a cross-border rocket attack killed an Israeli civilian.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Baghdad Mayor Saber al-Aisawi has asked Iranian firms’ help to upgrade level of municipal services in the capital.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran plans to invest in an oil refinery in Zimbabwe to supply fuel to the southern Africa region, Tehran’s ambassador to Harare said Wednesday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani here Thursday submitted to an Iranian top official the Qatari Emir’s message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

TEHRAN (FNA)- While President George W. Bush’s trips to Iraq have been brief and surrounded by secrecy, a visit by Iran’s president on Sunday is being heralded with much fanfare, raising US concerns it will erode American influence in the region.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and the United States are to agree on a new date for a fourth round of talks on Iraq by mid-March, the Iraqi foreign minister said on Friday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqis are excitedly awaiting a Sunday visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the first by an Iranian head of state since the 1979 revolution.

TEHRAN (FNA)- France and Britain have again delayed a UN Security Council vote on a new round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Western diplomats said.