ISTANBUL -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey aims to expand its trade volume with the African countries to 75 billion U.S. dollars in the upcoming period.

Speaking at the Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum in Istanbul, Erdogan pointed out that the value of Turkey's investments across the continent has exceeded 6 billion dollars. (Turkey-Africa-Trade)

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TEHRAN -- The foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey have discussed a range of issues including ties, recent developments in Syria and situation in Afghanistan, Tasnim news agency reported on Friday.

In a telephone conversation on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu voiced concerns about violence and recent terrorist attacks on worshippers in Afghanistan. (Iran-Turkey-Afghanistan)

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RAMALLAH -- Palestine on Friday condemned the Israeli government's plan to build 3,000 new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

In a press statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the new units "are an extension to deepening and expanding the settlement that sweeps the West Bank and East Jerusalem and its environs." (Palestine-Israel-Settlement)

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JERUSALEM -- A rare coin, dated back to about 2,300 years ago, was discovered near the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Friday.

It was found by police officers, who discovered two young men with shovels and metal detectors in a forest northeast of the city. In a search of the two young men's car, the officers found ancient coins, including the rare one, said the IAA. (Israel-Antiquity-Coin)