An Iranian court has confirmed a jail sentence of five years for a reformist former industries minister over his role in unrest that erupted after last year's disputed election, ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka's president has dissolved parliament to pave the way for legislative elections, a senior government official said on Tuesday, a day after a leading opposition figure was arrested on military offences.

At least 28 people died and hundreds were trapped through the night in freezing cold and darkness after avalanches closed a mountain highway tunnel in Afghanistan.

Iranians are struggling over the legacy and even the legitimacy of an Islamic revolution that triumphed 31 years ago this week. No compromise is in sight.

Iran began making higher-grade nuclear fuel on Tuesday, state television reported, and the Pentagon said the United States wanted a U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran "within weeks" over its nuclear program.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Monday accused the United States of undermining Palestinian unity efforts and said he saw no chance for peace in the Middle East under Israel's current leadership.

International pressure for new sanctions against Iran grew on Monday after Tehran announced more moves to expand nuclear fuel production and enrichment plants, heightening Western fears it wants to make atom bombs.

Iran said it will start making higher-grade reactor fuel on Tuesday and will add 10 uranium enrichment plants over the next year in a nuclear expansion sure to stoke tensions with the West.

An Iraqi militant group said on Saturday it kidnapped a U.S. civilian contractor last month and was negotiating the release of the body of another.

Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi was tense on Saturday a day after two bombs killed 31 people, raising further questions about the effectiveness of security crackdowns on al Qaeda-linked militants.

South African President Jacob Zuma apologized on Saturday for fathering an illegitimate child, in the face of national outcry.

Dubai would seek the arrest of Israel's prime minister if it found evidence intelligence service Mossad was behind the killing of a senior Hamas official, its police chief said in a newspaper Friday.

Iran has been using delaying tactics instead of taking action to resolve the dispute over its nuclear programme, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Friday.

A suspected suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed 12 Shi'ite Muslims in a crowded bus in Pakistan's commercial capital Friday, hospital and police officials said.

The Taliban have said they will not enter into any "deal" with the Afghan government or the West to bring peace to Afghanistan, and their fighters will continue to die to achieve a victory they say is around the corner.

Pakistani police have arrested 30 suspects in connection with a bombing that killed three American soldiers, three children and a Pakistani paramilitary soldier outside a girls' school, an officer said.

Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for a bomb on Wednesday that killed three U.S. soldiers outside a girls school in the northwest of the country and threatened more attacks on Americans.

Iran said on Wednesday it had launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket capable of carrying a satellite -- a move that may add to Western concern about Tehran's nuclear program.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran was ready to send its enriched uranium abroad in exchange for nuclear fuel, and a U.S. official said Washington was prepared to listen if Iran was making a new offer to break an impasse over its disputed nuclear program.