Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticised international sanctions on Iran as he met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran has been seeking relief from growing UN and other sanctions, including international embargoes on its oil sales.
Mr Chavez said that Iran faces “obstacles imposed by imperialism, blockades, threats, unilateral sanctions”. Mr Chavez has previously defended Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, saying he believes the Iranian government is simply pursuing peaceful energy uses.
The Venezuelan leader said that Iran can count on “all the support of the Venezuelan people, of the Venezuelan government”. He did not say what that support is to entail.
The two leaders pledged to keep building closer ties, though they did not mention specific initiatives.
New Greek Prime Minister, finance minister in hospital
Greece’s new prime minister and finance minister are both in hospital, with one undergoing eye surgery and the other remaining hospitalised a day after collapsing.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was having an operation yesterday to repair the early stages of a detached retina. The surgery was expected to last an hour.
Finance minister Vassilis Rapanos remains in a private clinic after being rushed to hospital last Friday suffering from intense abdominal pain, nausea, dizziness, sweating and weakness.
The cause of his symptoms was not immediately clear, and he was undergoing tests.
Mr Rapanos, who was named in the post last Thursday, has not been sworn in to office yet.
His swearing-in ceremony had been scheduled for Friday evening, but was postponed due to his illness.
Palestinian militant killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza
A Palestinian militant has been killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted rocket-launcher squads in Gaza, a health official said.
Ashraf Al Kedra said the militant was killed and that 17 people, some of them civilians, were wounded.
He said some buildings used by the militant group Hamas, which rules the coastal territory, were damaged.
The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted Palestinian militants who have fired more than 150 rockets at residential areas in southern Israel last week.
An Israeli civilian was injured by one of the rockets yesterday morning.
George Washington book fetches nearly €8 million
A book once owned by George Washington, containing his annotated copy of the US Constitution, has sold for nearly $10 million (€7.95m) at a New York auction.
A spokesman for Christie’s auction house said the price sets a new world record for a historical document.
Christie’s said the bidder was a representative of the non-profit educational organisation that operates the museum at Washington’s Virginia home.
The 223-year-old book has President of the US on the cover and also contains a copy of the Bill of Rights.