Eurasia

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Pakistan’s main defense industry complex on Thursday killing up to 20 people, police said. Pakistan is on the front line of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism and al Qaeda-lined militants have launched a wave of attacks on the security forces …

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Eight police officers and three soldiers were wounded on Thursday by a car bomb which ripped through a minibus in the western Turkish city of Izmir, the local governor said. Television pictures showed clouds of smoke rising from the scene of the explosion as concerned residents looked …

Russia is continuing to show no sign of yielding to Western pressure to hasten its withdrawal from Georgia. Germany, Russia’s largest trading partner, has become the latest major power to express impatience over the pace of the pull-out – which is turning into scepticism over Moscow’s intentions.

We will respond, and it won’t just be a diplomatic protest. That is the warning from Russia after the US and Poland signed an agreement on the controversial American missile defence shield.

Russia is under increasing Western pressure to meet its own Friday deadline to pull its troops out of Georgia. However, those on the ground say there is little evidence of any large-scale military withdrawal.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and Turkey are to move forward with negotiations on a major agreement on the transport of natural gas, following Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Istanbul last week.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Keyhan manager Hossein Shariatmadari examined the Russian-Georgian conflict in an editorial in the Persian daily headlined One piece of news and a lesson to learn.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday he will use a visit to Russia to expand military ties with Moscow, whose arms sales to the Middle Eastern state have angered Israel and the United States.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO agreed after U.S. pressure on Tuesday to freeze regular contacts with Russia until Moscow had withdrawn its troops from Georgia in line with a peace deal.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that by August 22 Russia will pull its troops in Georgia back to the positions set out in a French-brokered ceasefire agreement.