An anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in the Mumbai attack case today said it would give its ruling next week on an application challenging the contention of the defence that Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari cannot be re-tried in Pakistan.

Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Saturday called on Egypt to take a "courageous step" towards renewing diplomatic ties with Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Saturday became the first foreign leader to visit Japan's tsunami-ravaged Northeast, where authorities battled hard to contain an atomic crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

A high-powered US Senate delegation led by lawmaker Harry Reid met senior Chinese officials in Beijing on Thursday for talks expected to touch on thorny economic issues and human rights.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard vowed on Thursday to help Japan recover from last month's earthquake and tsunami by securing natural resources and rare earth minerals for the Asian country.

A South Korean container ship has been attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean and is believed to have been hijacked, Seoul officials said on Thursday.

Iran on Thursday hanged four men convicted of murder and rape, Fars news agency reported, saying the executions were carried out in public in the Southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

Sixty-five militants were killed in fighting with the security forces in Eastern Afghanistan, Xinhua reported on Thursday. The fighting took place in the Baraki Barak district of the Logar province, 60 km south of Kabul.

Iraq's high criminal court on Thursday sentenced to death three Saddam Hussein-era spies who assassinated the father of a sitting Iraqi lawmaker in Beirut in April 1994.

Awami National chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, a top leader of Pakistan's ruling coalition, will make a week-long visit to India this week to attend the centennial celebrations of the Islamic University in New Delhi.