TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Tajikistan has voiced preparedness to launch banking activities in Iran by opening a branch of Tajik Export Bank on Iran’s southern island of Qeshm.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki described his country as the most reliable and powerful partner for Russia in the region.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The criminal who killed a French citizen in Iran’s central city of Isfahan earlier this week was arrested by the Iranian security and police forces last night, an informed source said on Friday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to leave Tehran for Mecca, Saudi Arabia on a hajj pilgrimage on Sunday.

KABUL, Afghanistan – A rocket landed in a crowd of civilians near Kabul’s police headquarters Saturday, and a truck full of rockets smuggled into the city under a pile of hay exploded nearby moments later, officials said. At least five people were killed.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s army urged feuding politicians to set aside their differences and strengthen the foundations of the nation on Friday at the funeral of an assassinated general.

GAZA (Reuters) – A senior adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s government was abducted by unknown gunmen in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday, Abbas’s Fatah faction said.

PARIS (Reuters) – France hosts an international aid conference on Monday to raise funds for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas Islamists as he negotiates peace with Israel.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and South Korea said on Friday they are discussing the creation of a joint venture that would export Russian uranium products, RIA news agency reported.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has met his deputy Sergei Storchak, charged with attempting to embezzle $43 million, for the first time since Storchak’s arrest, his ministry said on Friday.