US-led soldier killed in Afghanistan

Press TV --A militant attack has killed a US-led soldier in Afghanistan as the number of attacks against Western troops in the war-torn country has soared significantly in the past months.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Wednesday that the soldier died following a militant attack in northern Afghanistan.

The death brings to 615 the number of foreign soldiers who have lost their lives in the Afghan war this year. The figure is the highest annual toll since the start of the US-led invasion of the country nearly nine years ago.

As casualties have risen in Afghanistan over the past few months, Western public opinion is growing increasingly tired of the war and mounting casualties.

Iran says it backs Africa’s effort against

ISNA--Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the country backs African countries’ effort to be extricated from "yoke of colonialism"

"The strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is fighting colonialism and it supports any measure by African states for being extricated from the yoke of colonialism," Larijani said in a meeting with a parliamentary delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Tehran on Tuesday.

"Islamic Republic of Iran’s Parliaments supports any action for expansion of political and economic ties between the two countries," Larijani added.

Democratic Republic of Congo’s Senate Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman Jean Claude Mokeni on his part said his trip seeks using Iranian Parliament experiences on different fields.

He also expressed appreciation over the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for DRC.

Democrats cling to Senate while GOP ascends in U.S. House

CNN-- Republicans rode a wave of voter dissatisfaction with the state of the economy to win majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterm elections, while Democrats retained their majority in the Senate.

With results still coming in, the extent of the Republican takeover of the 435-member House was still to be determined. But CNN projected that Republicans would win at least 60 more House seats than they currently hold to wipe out the Democratic majority of the past four years.

President Barack Obama called House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio to congratulate him. They had a brief but pleasant conversation, according to Boehner’s aides. The two discussed working together to focus on the top priorities of the American people, which Boehner has identified as creating jobs and cutting spending. Boehner thanked the president for the call.
More on the House races
Despite widespread success by Republicans across the country, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, retained his Senate seat by defeating Republican Sharron Angle, a Tea Party favorite.

Republican candidates also were running strong in governors’ races, while Democrats were guaranteed of holding at least 50 of the 100 Senate seats with a handful of close races still outstanding, according to the projections based on CNN’s analysis of exit poll data.

Spokesman condemns terrorist incident in Baghdad church

IRNA– Foreign Ministry Spokesman, by condemning terrorist incident in a Baghdad church, underlined that the action is in direction of return of terrorism to Iraq.

According to the report of Foreign Ministry Media Department on Tuesday, Ramin Mihman-parast condoled with Iraqi government and nation and called the incident return of terrorism and violence to the country to affect political process of establishing government.
He added that terrorist groups, with foreign support, have started a new round of devastating actions using the existing political vacuum and delay in establishment of government with the aim of imposing pressure on government and taking more political advantages.
Whenever Iraqi politicians get close to a practical and logical tactic to establish national unity government, terrorist groups, as an instrument in the hands of domestic and regional pressure groups, have tried to neutralize the action, Mihman-parast added.He noted that delay in establishing government will prepare a suitable opportunity for occupiers’ interference and pave ground for pessimism and lack of confidence to the government.

Iran welcomes Chinese investment’

Tehran Times--Iranian Ambassador to Beijing Mehdi Safari says the Islamic Republic welcomes foreign investments, especially from longtime trade partners like China.

“The Islamic Republic sets no limitation for investment of Chinese companies in Iran,” IRNA quoted Safari as saying in China’s capital city of Beijing on Tuesday.

He added that Chinese firms have expressed interest in investing in different projects in Iran, including industries, road-building and energy.

The Iranian ambassador expressed hope that Chinese companies and organizations would see Iran’s economic potentials and further boost bilateral cooperation.

“We will make efforts to encourage different Chinese firms which have worked in Iran to invest in the country,” Safari said.

He pointed to Iran’s strategic position in the Middle East region, saying, “The Islamic Republic is a stable and influential country in the region and in the world.”

He expressed confidence that investment in Iran “will cover the entire Middle East region.”

Iran is currently China’s third-largest supplier of crude, providing China with roughly 12 percent of its total annual oil consumption -- nearly one million barrels per day.

The value of trade between Iran and China amounted to USD 8.6 billion in the first quarter of the Iranian calendar year (starting March 21st). About USD 5.4 billion of this sum constitutes Iran’s export volume.

China is the world’s third-largest economy. According to World Bank reports, China has favorable economic conditions while enjoying a stable macroeconomy status.

The Chinese economy is growing at a rate of 10 percent annually even as the world emerges from a deep recession.