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 …

His visit was brief but its message was clear. As French soldiers mourn 10 comrades killed in Afghanistan, Nicolas Sarkozy has told the military its mission is essential and must continue.

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)- Iran cut its crude sales to North Asia by 26 percent compared with the first quarter, and 21 percent versus a year ago.

TEHRAN (FNA)- India’s Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd will sell an extra 210,000 tons of diesel by December to Iran, which is boosting imports ahead of heavy refinery maintenance works this year, its managing director said on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has negotiated around $4.5 billion in joint ventures in the petrochemical and energy sector during the past three years, an oil industry official said.

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.