Iran's oil minister on Thursday shrugged off the tightening international squeeze on his country's oil exports, declaring that Tehran was not feeling the pinch and warning that an energy-hungry world could not do without Iranian oil and natural gas.

Chinese refiner Sinopec has turned down offers of bargain Iranian crude and will cut imports by up to a fifth this year, a senior Chinese oil executive said, insisting ties with the United States are more important than cut-price oil as the West squeezes Tehran over its controversial nuclear program.

Iraqi Airways is looking to update its fleet of planes by renting modern aircraft from foreign firms, a transport ministry statement said Monday.

Dubai group Friendi plans to expand into six more countries within four years after the mobile virtual network operator agreed a strategic partnership with Richard Branson's Virgin Group, its chief executive told Reuters on Sunday.

Douglas Hsu, chairman of the Far Eastern Group (FEG), said yesterday the group's first-half profit may drop by 20 to 30 percent from its original estimates due to the continuing European debt crisis.

Iraq opened on Wednesday its fourth postwar bidding round for oil and natural gas exploration, with 39 foreign energy companies registered to compete for exploration rights in a dozen areas of the country.

Iran has cancelled a US$2 billion contract with China to build a hydro-electric dam and handed the project over to its Revolutionary Guards, media reported on Tuesday.

Outside the crumbling elementary school, goats feed on trash strewn across the front yard. Inside, the ceiling is rotting, toilets don't work and students scrunch hip-to-hip behind narrow desks.

A U.S. drone fired two missiles at a compound in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing four suspected militants in an attack that comes as Washington is running out of patience with Islamabad's refusal to reopen supply routes for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Turkmenistan plans this week to sign a long-awaited agreement to supply natural gas to Pakistan and India through an ambitious U.S.-backed pipeline that would cross Afghanistan, a source in the Central Asian country's government told Reuters on Monday.