BBC: Tens of millions of people are celebrating Nowruz, a spring festival believed to have originated thousands of years ago in ancient Persia.

AFP: Republican presidential candidate John McCain touts his foreign policy expertise at every turn, but he has given Democrats ammunition against his experience by wrongly saying Iran trains Al-Qaeda members.

AFP: The United States on Wednesday warned that it was launching a legal review of a gas deal signed earlier this week between Iran and Switzerland to see whether it violates terms of US sanctions.

VOA: Iranian moves to solidify ties with Venezuela, Bolivia and other leftist governments in Latin America have sparked increasing concern in the United States. From Miami, VOA’s Brian Wagner reports the growing Iranian ties reflect shared political and economic goals and anti-American sentiment.

Reuters: Reformist opponents of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requested a recount on Wednesday of votes cast in Tehran in last week’s election after conservatives swept to victory, a news agency reported.

AFP: US Vice President Dick Cheney and Oman’s Sultan Qaboos on Wednesday were to break bread and hold talks expected to focus on US efforts to contain Iran’s influence and curb its nuclear programme.

New York Sun: A new Freedom House study of Iranian textbooks finds that the Islamic Republic is teaching its children to embrace Islamic supremacism, preparing them to enter a political system that discriminates against women and non-Muslims.