Tehran, Jan 21, IRNA -- The fall of the Taleban and the establishment of an interim government in the war-battered nation of Afghanistan has brought palpable changes in Pakistan's policies thereby opening new avenues for wider Tehran-Islamabad cooperation, praised `Tehran Times' in its opinion column on Monday. ... more

A lack of quality intelligence hamstrings Israel's ability to assess the threat posed by Iran. Intelligence agencies find it almost impossible to penetrate Iran - even countries friendly with Tehran's Islamic regime lack adequate intelligence on developments there. The simple fact is that Israel has only a fuzzy picture of what goes on inside Iran. ... more

Iran signed a memorandum of understanding with Afghanistan yesterday on setting up 75 factories in the neighbouring war-ravaged country, the official Irna news agency said. ... more

Rasht, Gilan province, Jan 21, IRNA -- Police Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said here Monday that establishing security is the foremost responsibility of the police throughout the country. ... more

TEHRAN The United States is a country that has always tried to secure its presence in the Persian Gulf in one way or another. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, White House officials found a perfect opportunity to increase their military presence not only in the Persian Gulf but also in Central Asia as well, which was formerly unapproachable due to Russia's presence. ... more

TEHRAN -- After the September 11 attacks in the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) gained information about a spy ring that had been eavesdropping on the telephone conversations of U.S. officials. ... more

Iraq has announced that Iran on Monday will release nearly 700 Iraqi prisoners who were captured during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. "The Iranian side agreed to release 697 Iraqi prisoners over three days staring on Monday, 21 January, under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross," the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a fax sent to news agencies. ... more

Shiraz, Fars prov., Jan 21, IRNA -- Some 200 Afghans residing in Iran's southern Province of Fars returned home Monday, raising the total number of Afghan returnees so far at about 8,300. ... more

The Tel Aviv District Court on Monday sentenced Mark Idan, an Australian citizen living in Israel, to two years in jail for having contacts with a foreign agent. ... more

SEOUL, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Shares of South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co Ltd gained 8.33 percent to 3,900 won on Monday on news reports that the contractor was about to sign a $1.2 billion gas project from Iran. A spokesman for Hyundai Engineering said his company was negotiating a "large-scale" deal to build a gas plant in the Middle East, with the final contract due in early February, but refused to give details. ... more

A bomb exploded outside the newly reopened US embassy in Kabul in the first reported attack on the growing international presence in the city, sources told the Guardian last night. United Nations personnel, diplomats, and aid workers have been warned that there could be an attack on a major installation in the Afghan capital in the days ahead, and a contingency plan has just been drawn up for the emergency evacuation of all UN staff from Afghanistan. ... more

Israel's official account of the Palestinian Authority's connections with a ship found loaded with weapons makes little sense, writes Brian Whitaker At a select gathering in London last week, Israeli intelligence officers briefed journalists on the strange affair of Karine A, the ship seized by Israeli commandos with 50 tonnes of weapons on board. ... more

Brian Wilson, the UK energy minister, has criticised the takeover of Britain's independent oil companies for undermining the government's strategy for North Sea oil. ... more

A few years ago, someone from the Feminist Majority Foundation called the Muslim Women's League to ask if she could "borrow a burka" for a photo shoot the organization was doing to draw attention to the plight of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban. ... more

LONDON (Reuters) - Persistent questions over the future of U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia suggest unprecedented challenges to an alliance that has endured since the kingdom's creation 70 years ago. ... more

PARIS Richard Helms, the former CIA director, once made a trenchant observation about the Arab world. "Forget all that newspaper stuff about presidential speeches and cabinet appointments ... more

ERUSALEM (AP) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Monday that Mideast leaders are "playing on the wrong field" now, after the Palestinian Authority missed a historic opportunity to make peace with Israel. ... more

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- A sign nailed onto the peeling concrete wall of the religious school says, "No political discussions allowed." The government says the sign was ignored. ... more

Thirty years ago, one of America's top nuclear weapons designers, Theodore B. Taylor, traveled the land warning that terrorists were bound to get their hands on the Bomb. To doubters he proposed an experiment. The government should assign a small team of technicians to build and detonate a crude nuclear device using off-the-shelf technology, nothing classified. ... more

What with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and war in Afghanistan, President Bush's decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty late last year passed as a virtual nonevent -- this in spite of all the dire predictions that withdrawal would seriously damage relations between Washington and Moscow. ... more