ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has approved the sackings of seven military personnel suspected of Islamist leanings, the military General Staff said, in a move that may help ease secularist reservations about him.

DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – A new explosion injured five miners on Saturday at a colliery in eastern Ukraine struck by the country’s worst mining accident two weeks ago, officials said.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States withdrew on Friday a draft U.N. resolution endorsing action agreed at this week’s Annapolis Middle East peace conference, a document Israeli officials said they felt was inappropriate.

GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli missile strike killed five Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinian hospital officials and Hamas said.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Tehran’s Provisional Friday Prayers leader Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called on western countries to avoid use force and threats against the Islamic Republic, warning that such an option would deteriorate conditions for the West.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian Industries and Mines Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian left Tehran Friday morning for Egypt to attend an inauguration ceremony marking the official launch of operation of the assembly line of Iranian Peugeot Pars passenger car in the African country.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said late on Thursday nothing would deflect the Islamic Republic from its pursuit of nuclear technology.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The Sri Lankan Government was able to secure seven months credit facility to import crude oil from Iran following President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s State visit to Tehran, a senior official said in Colombo on Thursday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to attend the upcoming summit of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) slated for Dec. 3-4 in Qatar’s capital Doha.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana are to continue Tehran-West nuclear talks in a meeting in London on Friday.