Iran will cut its crude production by 176,000 barrels per day as from Wednesday in line with a recent decision made by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the official IRNA news agency reported.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a secret diplomatic move to convince Syria to cease its support for radical Middle East groups, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a secret diplomatic move to convince Syria to cease its support for radical Middle East groups, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Iran said on Wednesday that it will stage "extensive" military maneuvers in the Gulf waters starting from Thursday, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President George W. Bush will hold their first talks in mid-November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Hanoi, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday.

A suicide bomber targeted a NATO convoy in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province on Wednesday afternoon, causing unknown casualties, a local official in Kandahar city Shir Shah said.

Israel's security cabinet Wednesday ruled out expansion of military operations in the Gaza Strip, but proposed maintaining the current scale to keep pressure on Palestinian ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.

The Tamil Tiger rebel delegation who attended the two-day talks with the government returned to the island Wednesday morning, airport officials said.

The Hamas-led Palestinian government and President Mahmoud Abbas' office are very close to achieve a deal with the captors of an Israeli soldier to swap him for Palestinian prisoners, local Palestinian media reported on Wednesday.

Four people were killed and 13 others wounded in two separate explosions inside vehicles in Baghdad on Wednesday, a well-informed Interior Ministry source said.