Eurasia

BEIJING (Reuters) – Islamabad wants to talk to the next U.S. administration about boosting investment in border regions hit by Islamist militant violence, Chinese state media quoted Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari as saying.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Secretary General of the Armenian National Security Council Arthur Baghdasarian is due to pay an official visit to Iran in near future.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Kazakh Transport and Communication Minister Serik Akhmetov signed a cooperation protocol at the end of the 10th meeting of the Kazakh-Iranian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic, science and technical and cultural cooperation.

TEHRAN (FNA)- China has hampered US efforts to convene permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany to discuss new sanctions against Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran-Kazakhstan 10th economic commission opened in the Kazakh capital Astana to consider expansion of economic and trade cooperation.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Consul General in Lahore Saeed Kharazi said that Iran can help Pakistan meet its energy needs as his country produced 35,000 megawatts of electricity.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday said unilateral sanctions against Iran would be “counterproductive” in efforts to force Tehran to suspend its nuclear fuel work.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Talks over Georgia’s Moscow-backed breakaway regions were suspended until next month as soon as they started on Wednesday, with both Russia and Georgia blaming each other for the breakdown.

BALIKESIR, Turkey (Reuters) – Turkey’s powerful generals rejected on Wednesday any blame for the deaths of 17 soldiers in a raid by Kurdish rebels, as rare public criticism of the army mounted following a series of attacks.

BAKU (Reuters) – Azeri exit polls pointed to victory for incumbent Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday in a presidential election condemned by the opposition as a charade to extend the Aliyev family dynasty in the oil-producing state.