MOGADISHU (Reuters) — Ethiopian troops will stay in Somalia for several weeks to help the victorious government pacify the Horn of Africa nation after a two-week war to oust Islamists, both countries said on Tuesday.

BEIRUT — Assassinated leaders are very much alive in Lebanese politics. The commemoration of leaders blown up or shot dead is a tradition in a country plagued for decades by political killings and civil violence.

BAGHDAD — When Ali Mohammad was woken by gunfire celebrating the hanging of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, he thought about the lessons of history in his country where rulers tend not to die quietly in their beds.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel on Thursday marks one year since a massive stroke felled Ariel Sharon and left the former premier who for decades dominated the nation’s political landscape in a coma.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The Islamic Republic of Iran and Thailand experienced a growth rate of 57.85% in their trade exchanges during the first 10 months of the year 2006, Iran’s ambassador to Bangkok Mohsen Pak Ayeen said on Saturday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Chairman of Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaoddin Boroujerdi said Saddam’s trial was too short.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Following the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman here on Saturday stressed that punishment of criminals should not turn into an excuse for wrongdoers or lead into fomentation of religious and ethnic conflicts.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran announced here on Friday that it would grant a one-billion-dollar loan to Iraq.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The Bush administration and Congress are warning that a proposed $16 billion deal between a Chinese company and Iran could trigger economic penalties under an American law aimed at starving Iran of funding for terrorism and nuclear weapons.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on Friday dismissed UN sanctions imposed on Iran as “psychological warfare” and suggested they would not affect Iran’s missile production capability.