KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A series of clashes in southern Afghanistan left 33 suspected Taliban militants dead, while a roadside bomb killed two NATO soldiers, officials said Saturday.

Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran said in its latest report that the country’s foreign currency reserves on September 12 amounted to USD68 bln, showing 19.8% of growth compared with the last year.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari has said that the Islamic Republic’s oil and gas output could reach 4.5 mln barrels per day of oil equivalent within the next two years.

China has pulled out of a meeting to discuss new sanctions on Iran, European diplomats said on Friday, highlighting the obstacles western powers, specially the US, face in their quest to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana would table a report on Iran’s attitude to engagement in nuclear talks whether or not there will be a new meeting with Iran’s nuclear envoy, his spokeswoman said on Friday.

Georgia lifted a nine-day state of emergency on Friday and President Mikhail Saakashvili appointed a new prime minister as he prepared to run in a snap presidential election next year.

Europe’s election watchdog on Friday scrapped plans to monitor Russia’s December 2 parliamentary vote blaming obstruction from Moscow, but Russia hit back saying it suspected Washington may have been behind the move.

Russia’s scheduled presidential election will take place on March 2 next year, local media quoted the speaker of parliament’s upper house as saying on Friday.

The head of the Turkish state lottery was shot dead in his office by a former lottery employee on Friday, the state-run Anatolian news agency said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin could run for re-election in next year’s presidential vote if he resigns early to get around a ban on serving three consecutive terms, a lobbyist close to the Kremlin has said.