Iran on Wednesday assured of its continued efforts to set a kidnapped Japanese student free, but meantime, called on Tokyo to refrain from direct intervention in the case

An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Taybad in Iran’s northeastern province of Khorassan Razawi on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed technical problems for the delays in completing Iran’s first nuclear power plant, being built with Russian help.

Czech-Iranian relations should be stabilized and a space for communication should open, Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova told CTK after a meeting between Foreign Minister Karel Sschwarzenberg and Iranian parliament foreign committee head Alaaddin Borujerdi Tuesday.

Prime Minister John Howard, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and Defence Force head Angus Houston have joined mourners at Brisbane’s Saint Stephen’s Cathedral for the military funeral of trooper David Pearce.

The Canadian government plans to extend the country’s Afghanistan mission until at least 2011 — two years beyond the proposed February 2009 deadline.

Abkhazia demands that Tbilisi withdraw its troops from the breakaway Georgian region’s border, a spokesman for the Abkhazian president said on Tuesday.

The five Caspian Sea littoral states adopted a declaration at their second summit on Tuesday in Tehran, pledging to deny access to third countries who intend to use force against any Caspian state.

This past weekend U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Russia in an attempt to diminish tensions between Washington and Moscow with regard to missile defense and arms control. During this visit, Putin warned the U.S. to drop their plans to install a missile defense …

Russian President Vladimir Putin here on Tuesday reiterated Moscow’s assistance to Iran’s peaceful nuclear programs.