TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Afghan Parliament Speaker, Younes Qanouni applied for the permanent membership of his country in the Association of Asian Parliaments.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Syrian Parliament Speaker called on the Asian countries to take more steps towards the implementation of justice.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Vice-Speaker of the Russian Duma said that Iran’s nuclear activities are conducted within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rules sand regulations and are, thus, fully legal.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- When at least 2 permanent UN Security Council members with a veto-wielding right voice support for the Zionist regime, there could be no guarantee for regional peace and justice, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Sunday.

BEIT HANOUN (AP) — Israel will keep targeting Palestinian rocket squads in Gaza despite the risk of inadvertently hitting civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday, as tens of thousands of Palestinians buried 18 victims of an errant Israeli artillery strike.

TOKYO (AP) — The departure of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cheered critics around the world who saw him as a symbol of a failed war in Iraq, while supporters of the military mission pledged to work closely with his successor.

CAIRO (Reuters) — The Sudanese government is willing to start unconditional talks with the National Redemption Front rebel group to stop the violence in Darfur but sees no need for a new peace deal, a senior presidential adviser said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — An expected phased reduction in US troops in Iraq after the resignation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left Iraqis split on Thursday whether a withdrawal would be in their best interest.

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran’s university campuses are falling silent. Student activists, once at the vanguard of a movement seeking political and social change in the Islamic Republic, say they are increasingly afraid to speak out.

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned against carrying out the death sentence on Saddam Hussein, saying that hanging the former leader would lead to more sectarian strife in Iraq.