TEHRAN (FNA)- A looming global recession could make OPEC more tolerant of cheaper oil, but the group still needs to cut output by early next year to control swelling stocks and insure against a price collapse.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Consul General Saeed Kharazi called on the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, on Monday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said Monday that Western states have no choice but to win Iranians’ trust on the country’s nuclear issue.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a government official in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday and U.S.-led forces killed five militants south of the capital, a senior police official and the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – In five years of war, Iraq has been hostage to a parade of grim statistics: car bombs, corpses, cholera and refugees fleeing rampant bloodshed.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – More than 40 Islamist militants and two soldiers have been killed in the latest fighting in Pakistan’s troubled northwest near the Afghan border, paramilitary force officials said on Tuesday.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has issued a decree to set up diplomatic ties with Lebanon and open an embassy.

The summit between Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been heralded by some observers as ushering in a new era for Syria and Lebanon.

A demonstration in Montenegro against the government’s decision to recognise Kosovo has turned violent.At least 30 people, including ten police officers, were injured in the clashes in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica.

Talks are underway in Moscow on the possibility of Russia lending Iceland four billion euros to help it survive its financial crisis. Russian could loan the money over three to four years, to be paid back at a higher than normal interest rate.