TEHRAN (FNA) – Norwegian company Econ technical director Paul Parks said Iran was the Middle East’s best energy market for investment.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The year 2008 will be a milestone in Iran’s relations with African countries, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here on Tuesday in a meeting with Senegalese Minister of Armed Forces Becaye Diop.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghanistan risks sliding into a failed state and becoming the “forgotten war” because of deteriorating international support and a growing violent insurgency, according to an independent study.

OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada’s military in Afghanistan has been taking fewer prisoners and releasing them quicker after it stopped turning them over to Afghan authorities following torture allegations, The Globe and Mail said.

BAGHDAD – The new commander of American forces in Baghdad plans to increase the number of local garrisons across the Iraqi capital even as U.S. troop levels drop in the coming months.

ISTANBUL – Police detained a Turkish Airlines employee on Tuesday after he released a woman he had been holding hostage with a gun at the company’s headquarters, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.

MOSCOW – Europe’s election watchdog complained on Tuesday of “serious restrictions” in the invitation it has received to monitor Russia’s March 2 presidential poll.

PENZA, Russia – Who looks like President Vladimir Putin, speaks and moves like Putin — but is not the man himself? Step forward Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s chosen successor for the top Kremlin job.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Tehran has responded to all questions about its nuclear program, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman announced on Tuesday, reiterating that transparency of his country’s nuclear activities has been approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

TEHRAN (FNA) – An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale jolted Anbar Abad in Iran’s southeastern province of Kerman Tuesday morning.