ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces killed 30 militants loyal to al Qaeda and Taliban in the latest fighting in a strategically important tribal region on the Afghan border, officials said on Saturday.

At least 17 people been killed and 14 hurt by a car bomb on the outskirts of Syria’s capital, Damascus, reports say.

Turkish warplanes have attacked suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq.The raids, late on Thursday, hit areas in the Qandil mountains. A spokesman for the PKK rebels said one of its members and two civilians were wounded.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has reached a framework for pricing gas imports from Turkmenistan following a supply dispute last winter, with a senior official in Tehran saying the deal will be finalized once Ramadan ends next week.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russia is seeking to forge closer ties with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and has invited the cartel’s members to a meeting in Moscow next month, Iran’s OPEC Governor said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said here Friday that no country or world power dares to launch a direct military attack on Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA)- An Iranian firm has been offered an investment license to build a cement factory in southern Iraq by provincial authorities in Thi-Qar.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reiterated Berlin’s interest in expanding relations with Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The US steers clear of the issue of illegal Israeli settlements by putting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the spotlight.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama accused one another of glaring errors over Iran, Iraq and the US economy in their first presidential debate.