MOGADISHU (AP) — A Somali lawmaker bypassed the government and signed an agreement Saturday to end hostilities with the country’s powerful Islamic Courts, a symbolic gesture that is unlikely to have any real effect.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday she would ask the US Congress for tens of millions of dollars to strengthen the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri met with chairman of Iran-Pakistan parliamentary friendship group Ali Aghayee here on Thursday.