Eurasia Press & News

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran plans to conduct training exercises to increase the country’s response under emergency conditions in the advent of an oil spill.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar stressed on Thursday that Tehran would not allow any trans-regional power to endanger security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A missile from a U.S. Predator drone struck a suspected terrorist safehouse in Pakistan and killed a top al-Qaida commander believed responsible for attacks on U.S. forces and the brazen bombing during a visit last year by Vice President Dick Cheney to Afghanistan, a U.S. official said …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Two deadly bombings in Afghanistan yesterday underscored the difficulties in combating the tactics of the Taliban insurgency, a campaign now increasingly using suicide bombers moving through cities in search of vulnerable targets. more stories like this * 3 civilians killed in Afghan bombings * British soldier killed …

ISTANBUL – At least 20 people were killed and 117 were injured on Thursday when an explosion ripped through an Istanbul building that housed an illegal fireworks factory, the city governor’s office said.

BELGRADE – Pro-Western Serbian President Boris Tadic faces nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic on Sunday in an election that will decide Serbia’s attitude to the West after the imminent loss of breakaway Kosovo province.

SARAJEVO – The European Union’s double standards towards Serbia are causing frustration and distrust of the bloc in Bosnia, and could undercut support for much-needed reforms there, Bosnian media and analysts said on Thursday.

BRUSSELS – The European Union is keeping any doubts over the fairness of Russia’s March 2 election to itself to avoid needlessly antagonizing its large neighbor at a delicate time in their ties, analysts and diplomats say.

MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin’s chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, will win 71 percent of the votes in March’s Russian presidential election, state-owned pollster VTsIOM predicted on Thursday.

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s prime minister said on Thursday that an Israeli report on the war against Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006 set the scene for a possible future conflict and failed to address “Israel’s crimes against Lebanon”.