BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she saw no need to change parliamentary mandates that set limits on the number of troops her government can send to Afghanistan despite mounting pressure from NATO allies.

MOSCOW – Chechen rebels fighting to secede from Russia hailed Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, comparing Pristina’s fight against Serbia to their own struggle against Moscow.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and visiting UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum discussed bilateral ties, regional developments and other issues of mutual interest in a meeting here on Monday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Millions of Pakistanis in different constituencies across the country on Monday rushed to make their wishes known through the ballot box.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The United Arab Emirates’ Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Parviz Davoudi here in Tehran on Monday reiterated the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Head of the International Paralympics Committee said that he would soon extend an official invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the inauguration ceremony of the 2008 competitions in Beijing.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs Fahd bin Mahmud al-Said is due to pay a visit to Iran in the near future, Tehran’s ambassador to Masqat said here on Monday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Oil Ministry Sunday announced the launch of operation by the country’s first oil products bourse in the free trade zone on the Persian Gulf Island of Kish.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Economy Minister Davoud Danesh Jafari downplayed a secret meeting last month between US and Iranian banking officials, calling it “an exchange of views” over the Islamic nation’s new money laundering law.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Radio Ma’aref (Islamic Knowledge) has launched its English service on the ninth anniversary of the start of its work which coincided the birth anniversary of Imam Musa Kazem (Shiites’ seventh Imam) on Sunday 17 February.