RAMALLAH (Reuters) – Palestinians in the occupied West Bank protested on Friday against Israel’s full-scale offensive against Gaza, but the demonstrations were divided, short, and relatively muted. The death toll in the two-week onslaught, now 783, has stunned West Bank Palestinians, eclipsing an internal quarrel between those ready to recognize …

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) – The European Union will hold talks with Russia on Saturday to finalize a gas monitoring deal to allow the resumption of gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine, which have been cut off for days over a pricing row. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, representing the EU presidency, …

KABUL (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday to meet political and military leaders in the war-torn country, which will become a top foreign policy priority of the new administration. One of the first decisions U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is expected to make is to …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Global expectations of Egypt have been doubled because of its different geographical position and its shared borders with Gaza through Rafah border crossing, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said. Egyptian government needs to comply with its historical and conscientious obligations over Gazans and take fundamental steps regarding …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Village Affairs Mehmet Mehdi Eker and Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Bahman Hosseinpour in a meeting on Thursday discussed ways to expand cooperation in agriculture and animal husbandry. At the meeting, the Iranian envoy offered to set up a joint agricultural commission to speed …

TEHRAN (FNA)- The 12th Iranian International Market for Films and TV Programs is scheduled to kick off work here in Tehran on January 30. The five-day market is being held on the side section of the 27th International Fajr Film Festival opening on January 31. International companies have received the …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Director of the Traveler Insurance Department at Alborz Insurance Company Ali-Reza Mogharab said Friday that all Iranian victims of the recent suicide bombing in Iraq, who traveled to the country officially, had insurance coverage. Mogharab said Alborz Insurance Company will pay reparations to those died or disabled in …

TEHRAN (FNA)- The tradition of playing a musical instrument called the karna has long been practiced in the northern region of Gilan Province during the month of Muharram and on the day of Ashura (the day when Imam Hossein (AS) and his seventy-two companions were martyred on 10th of Muharram). …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran once again reiterated the need for continued international and regional diplomatic efforts to remove the offensive and siege against Palestinians in Gaza. During the last week, over a dozen senior Iranian diplomats were dispatched to various world countries to invite them to push for the said two …

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian politician described proposals put forward by Middle Eastern and European states to end the Gaza conflict as “honey injected with poison” that would not protect Palestinian rights. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, a major figure in the Islamic Republic, was apparently referring to ideas put …