Afghanistan: 'Afghanistan has its first entertainment television channel, three years after the fall of the radical Taliban regime that banned the medium.' (Yahoo)

China: 'A businessman from eastern China has killed eight million flies over the past 10 years in a vendetta against the insects for ruining a business deal'. Hmm, not sure I believe that. (iafrica.com)

Scotland: further to Tuesday's story, an MSP complains that Nepal yak farmers have better online access than many of his constituents. (Press and Journal)

Nepal: this weblog suggests that the situation in Nepal is deteriorating.

India: 'Indian business has welcomed the new government's economic agenda, saying it gives a clear direction and will deliver high growth rates.' (CNN)

World: A BBC programme, One Day Of War, followed sixteen different people in different war zones around the world in a one-day period, including Ahmed Zia in Afghanistan and Shushila Magar in Nepal. (BBC)

India: 'India's newly-elected coalition says it will scrap controversial anti-terrorism laws passed by the last government. The Congress-led government says the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) had been grossly misused over the past two years, especially against Muslims.' (BBC)

India: 'India's new government has scrapped key elements of its predecessor's privatisation programme. The communist-backed coalition, led by the Congress party, said in a policy statement that it would not sell off profitable state-run firms.' (BBC)

Uzbekistan: 'A US pathology team has arrived in Uzbekistan to investigate allegations that Uzbek policemen tortured and killed a man in prison.' (BBC)

Pakistan: 'Two car bombs have killed a police officer and wounded at least 22 people near a U.S. diplomat's residence in Karachi, Pakistani police have said.' (CNN)

China: 'How the war on terror has left the Dalai Lama in the lurch
China's rise as a global power has made Tibet's fight for independence less appealing to the Western world.' (Independent)

Sudan: 'A peace deal to end Africa's longest civil war was finally signed last night. The fighting in Sudan, which has raged intermittently for nearly 50 years, has claimed two million lives.' (Daily Telegraph)

Afghanistan: 'A Hollywood actor who starred in horror film Dawn Of The Dead has found he is prince of the Afghan province of Ghor. Scott Reiniger, who appeared in the 1978 movie, is the great, great, great grandson of Josiah Harlan, the first American to set foot in Afghanistan.' (BBC)

Pakistan: 'The speaker of the lower house of the Pakistani parliament has nominated a prominent Islamic leader, Fazlur Rehman, as official opposition leader. His selection in preference to the nominee of the bigger ARD opposition alliance has created a rift within opposition ranks.' (BBC)

India: 'India's Congress party has moved to end a row over portfolios, a powerful ally in the ruling coalition says. The regional DMK party says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given it two of three posts it wants, defusing a stand-off which flared on Monday.' (BBC)

India (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'On May 18, barely a week after India’s Congress party defeated the previous pro-Hindu government in national elections, Chief Minister Selvi J. Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, in southern India, announced the repeal of the state’s anti-conversion law. “I have ordered that the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act 2002 be repealed at once,” she said. Observers say criticism from her political opponents and a steep drop in votes for her party were factors in the decision. Hindu nationalists have condemned her actions, but Christian leaders were unanimous in their support. Jayalalithaa’s move has also raised hopes that similar legislation may be dropped in four other Indian states.' (Compass Direct)

Nepal: 'Yak farmers in the mountains of Nepal are using wireless internet technology to keep in touch with their families.' (BBC)

Sudan (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'Khartoum police forcibly evicted the Episcopal Church in Sudan (ECS) from its provincial headquarters in Khartoum on May 20, declaring that the property had been sold to a new owner. The building had served since 1993 as a meeting place for Christians of all denominations, as well as housing church visitors from abroad. According to an Islamic court order, the property was sold two months ago to an Arab businessman by Gabriel Roric, who represented himself as the ECS Archbishop. Roric, a former cabinet minister in the Islamist government of Sudan, was dismissed from the bishopric of Rumbek in May 2003 for failure to obey church rules. Bishop of Khartoum Ezekiel Kondo declared in a written statement, “We suspect that the government might be behind Roric to do this, to put the ECS in a difficult position.” Part of the worldwide Anglican communion, the ECS is the largest Christian church in Sudan with 5 million members.' (Compass Direct)

Bangladesh: 'The British high commissioner to Bangladesh and his bodyguard were among 50 people injured when a bomb was thrown near a Muslim shrine. Two people were killed in the blast from the bomb which struck Anwar Choudhury, 43, in the stomach before rolling away to explode.' (Daily Telegraph)

Afghanistan: 'Afghanistan, the war the world forgot: "We've got to make sure this time that we do it properly" - Tony Blair, 5 April, 2002. "It's a basket case. It's a forgotten country" - Eric Illsley, Labour member of Foreign Affairs Select Committee, yesterday.' (Independent)

Pakistan: 'Pakistani police say a bomb has wounded 13 police and soldiers in the south-western city of Quetta.' (BBC)

Uzbekistan: 'A new torture death of a man in police custody in Uzbekistan on Tuesday is the fifth such death documented by Human Rights Watch since May 2003, when the United States last certified the country was making sufficient progress in human rights to qualify for U.S. assistance, Human Rights Watch said today. In the coming weeks, the U.S. State Department is due to again evaluate the Uzbek government’s eligibility.' (Human Rights Watch)

China: 'Chinese authorities crack down on multi million member house church: Leader kidnapped, over 90 coworkers arrested and one tortured to death.' (Assist News Service)

Pakistan: 'Pakistan is to be re-admitted to the Commonwealth, five years after it was suspended because of a military coup.' (BBC)

Bangladesh: 'More than 180 people are missing in southern Bangladesh after a river ferry capsized during a tropical storm.' (CNN)

India: 'India's Congress party-led government has begun its first full day of business, with a key coalition ally angry at its share of ministries.' (BBC)

Arab World: 'Arab leaders promise to back reform and fight terrorism: An unprecedented joint pledge to promote political reform was made by Arab leaders yesterday in an apparent attempt to tame President George W Bush's declared aim of promoting democracy in the Middle East.' (Daily Telegraph)

India: 'Just one day into his tenure as India's first non-Hindu Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh was faced with his first diplomatic test after a bomb attack killed at least 33 people in the disputed state of Kashmir.' (Independent)

India: 'First Sikh premiership for India's secular government ... The appointment of a prime minister from one of the country's religious minorities symbolises the dramatic swing in India's government. The Congress Party and its allies had promised to create a secular government if elected. About 80 per cent of India's population of more than 1 billion are Hindu. Critics had accused the BJP of putting the rights and needs of Hindus ahead of India's Muslims, Sikhs and Christians.' (Independent)

India: 'In his first address to the Indian nation, prime minister-elect Manmohan Singh said the country needed reform but with a "human face."' (CNN)

Afghanistan: 'The United States is to hold a "top-to-bottom" review of its detention centres in Afghanistan following allegations of prisoner abuse.' (BBC)

India: 'Two women and two decisions - the unfolding drama of God's intervention.' An article by Joseph D'souza, President of the All India Christian Council, on Mrs Gandhi's abdication of power and Ms Jayalalitha's repeal of anti-conversion laws in Tamilnadu State. (Assist News Service)

Pakistan (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'A Protestant pastor kidnapped last Sunday morning escaped from his Islamist abductors overnight Monday, some 40 hours after he had disappeared on his way to church services in Quetta, capital of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. Pastor Wilson Fazal, 41, managed to jump out of the vehicle in which his kidnappers were driving him to Peshawar late on the night of May 17. “He himself said he could not believe he could escape, that he got free from those people,” a church source said. “It was a very big miracle.” Fazal re-appeared early yesterday morning at the official Islamabad lodgings of a Quetta parliamentarian. Fazal was severely beaten by his captors, who also subjected him to electric shocks, stabbed him through the tongue, shaved off his hair and mustache and taunted him with savage death threats if he refused to convert to Islam. Fazal’s wife Nasreen and six sons left Quetta yesterday to be reunited with Fazal at a protected safehouse in an undisclosed location.' (Compass Direct)

India: 'India's Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi is coming under intense pressure to reconsider her refusal to become the country's prime minister.' (BBC)

India: the Daily Telegraph's India fact file.

Egypt (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'In an unprecedented verdict on April 13, an Egyptian court ordered the Interior Ministry to return formal Christian identity status to a Coptic Christian who had converted to Islam 11 years ago and then returned to her Christian faith. The decision resolved a six-month stand-off with state security officials and required them to return the Christian I.D. card of Mira Makram Gobran Hanna to her possession. Now 30, Hanna had signed papers in March 1993 to convert to Islam but obtained the approval of the ecclesiastical council to return to the Coptic Orthodox Church 13 months later. Last October, security police forcibly confiscated Hanna’s national I.D. card. Egyptian citizens 16 years and older are required to carry their I.D. cards at all times. The recent ruling in Hanna’s favor upholds the principle of freedom of belief enshrined in the Egyptian Constitution, according to her legal counsel Nagib Gibrael. “This verdict indicates the reliability of the Egyptian courts,” Gibrael told Compass. Under the Egyptian government’s long-standing interpretation of Islamic law, Muslims have been forbidden to convert to another faith.' (Compass Direct)

Afghanistan: 'The Afghan government has launched a nationwide campaign to disarm the country's militia forces, seen as crucial to the holding of elections.' (BBC)

Kazakhstan: 'Kazakhstan and China have signed a deal to build a 1,240-km oil pipeline from Kazakhstan to the Chinese border.' (BBC)

Bahrain: 'The government of Bahrain should immediately release 20 individuals arrested for collecting signatures on a political petition, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should also end the criminal investigations against them. The petition for constitutional amendments would give greater legislative authority to the kingdom’s elected assembly. Addressed to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the petition reportedly has tens of thousands of signatures.' (Human Rights Watch)

Pakistan (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'After a series of handwritten threats sent to Christian leaders in the Pakistani city of Quetta last week, at least one Protestant pastor has been reported missing by his family, with the whereabouts of another six uncertain. Pastor Wilson Fazal, 41, was reportedly enroute to Sunday morning services at the Pakistan Gospel Assembly in Quetta’s Bashirabad suburb when he disappeared yesterday. In a letter delivered to his house five days ago, Fazal was told, “Christians of Quetta, you are displeasing God … Accept the faith of jihad. … Get ready, ready, ready, or else.” Six other Pentecostal church leaders in the city are also missing and may have gone into hiding to avoid capture. According to unconfirmed reports, a local pastor has received a letter from Fazal’s kidnappers, declaring they will not release him until local churches comply with their demands to close down their Christian institutions. Pakistan’s Christian churches and institutions have been the violent target of repeated terrorist attacks since September 2001.' (Compass Direct)

China: 'Time to Cool Down: Why the inevitable slowing of China's roaring economy won't hurt as much as Asia thinks it will.' (Time)

India: 'The Sonia Shock: In the world's largest democratic vote, the congress party and its controversial leader score a stunning victory.' (Time)

This weblog software now enables one to allow comments. So I'm enabling comments. We'll see how it goes.

Kuwait: 'The government in the conservative Gulf Arab state of Kuwait has embarked on a new effort to grant women full political rights. The Council of Ministers approved a bill allowing women to vote and to stand for election which must now go before the 50-member parliament.' (BBC)

Sudan: 'The long-running Sudanese peace talks currently under way in Kenya are entering a critical week. The government and the southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) now both say a peace treaty could be signed at any time.' (BBC)

Turkey: 'Four small explosions have hit the Turkish cities Ankara and Istanbul, targeting offices of a British-owned bank, HSBC. No injuries or casualties were reported. The explosions Sunday evening come just ahead of a visit to Turkey by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.' (CNN)

India: 'India's stock market crashed today in one of the biggest falls in years, prompting regulators to suspend trading as investors remained wary about the economic policies of the incoming communist-supported government in New Delhi.' (Independent)

India: 'Return of the Gandhi dynasty: After the stunning defeat of Atal Behari Vajpayee and his ruling BJP in India’s election, Sonia Gandhi, Congress’s leader, is widely expected to become prime minister.' (Economist)

India: 'Historical Indian elections 2004 and the hand of God - by Dr. Joseph D’Souza, President, All India Christian Council' (Assist News Service)

India: 'Indian Christians see surprise election results as answer to prayer: Christian Council - national anti-conversion law now out of the question' (Assist News Service)

Turkmenistan: 'In his latest attempt to disguise Turkmenistan's de facto criminalisation of religious belief, President Saparmurat Niyazov has today (13 May) revoked the de jure criminalisation of unregistered religious activity. Believers were, before the de jure criminalization, treated as de facto criminals and fined, detained, beaten, threatened, sacked from their jobs, had their homes confiscated, banished to remote parts of the country or deported in retaliation for unregistered religious activity. Niyazov has also cancelled a secret decree requiring registered religious communities to subject themselves to tight financial regulation by the state – but has imposed tight financial regulation in a different way, through an official model statute for religious communities. Forum 18 News Service has obtained a copy of this, and religious leaders in Turkmenistan have told Forum 18 that they find these restrictions unacceptable. Many prefer to continue to exist in the underground.' (Forum 18)

India: 'India's main opposition Congress party is beginning work on building a coalition government after its shock general election victory. Italian-born party leader Sonia Gandhi has begun meeting key alliance members in Delhi, but has not yet indicated if she will be the new prime minister.' (BBC)

Turkey (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'In what the Hurriyet newspaper called a “jet acquittal,” a criminal court in southeastern Turkey dropped all charges yesterday against a Protestant pastor accused of opening an “illegal” church. Pastor Ahmet Guvener was fully acquitted in the opening hearing of his case before Diyarbakir’s Third Criminal Court. The quick resolution of the case surprised both Guvener and his lawyer, Abdul Kadir Pekdemir, who said a criminal case typically extends for a year or more before a verdict is issued. But when Judge Necla Ipek asked State Prosecutor Vahdettin Taskiran to present the government’s case against Guvener, Taskiran declared that no sufficient grounds existed to bring charges. Instead, Taskiran stressed that under recent reforms passed in Parliament, international agreements now take precedence over national laws, granting Turkish citizens the right both individually and in community to conduct worship, as well as to teach and propagate their faith. Moments later, Ipek declared Guvener acquitted and the case closed. “It’s a great step forward for Turkey,” Guvener told Compass afterward, “for Christians here, for religious freedom, for democracy.”' (Compass Direct)

Middle East: 'Three Arab states - Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates - are condemning the beheading of American Nicholas Berg by his Iraqi captors, shown in a video that appeared on an Islamist Web site.' (CNN)

Turkey: 'The Turkish parliament has approved a controversial higher education bill, which some fear could raise tension between the government and military. After all-night discussions, MPs adopted the bill which will make it easier for graduates of religious high schools to study at universities. The military issued a statement earlier this week, saying the reforms threatened Turkey's secular state.' (BBC)

India: 'Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is to resign as his governing BJP party faces defeat in India's general election. With a third of the results declared, the main opposition Congress party has won 105 seats and is projected to beat the governing BJP-led alliance.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: 'Mistreatment of prisoners by U.S. military and intelligence personnel in Afghanistan is a systemic problem and not limited to a few isolated cases, Human Rights Watch said today.' (Human Rights Watch)

Syria: 'The US has imposed economic sanctions on Syria after long accusing the Arab state of supporting terror and failing to stop militants entering Iraq.' (BBC)

India: 'Defeat in state poll may force Vajpayee into fragile coalition: A leading ally of India's ruling coalition has been trounced in state elections, delivering a blow to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee just two days before results are due in the general election.' (Independent)

China (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'Chinese Christians gave evidence of persecution at a special meeting called by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in April. The speakers included Xu Yongze of the Born Again house church movement and Brother Yun, subject of the best-selling autobiography The Heavenly Man, who testified to beatings, imprisonment, torture and harassment. Female members of the South China Church also testified to torture and sexual assault at the hands of police officers. Their evidence was supported by official documents and a video showing the destruction of a church in Zhejiang province. However, when the United States moved to censure China for its poor human rights record 27, member states voted with China against the move. “You have a lot of authoritarian countries who are members of the UN and of the commission,” Nicholas Becquelin of Human Rights in China said. “These states share with China the opposition to the scrutiny of their human rights situations.”' (Compass Direct)

India: 'India was today [Monday] holding the fifth and final stage of its parliamentary elections amid doubts over whether the prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, would be able to return to power with a stable government.' (Guardian)

Nepal: 'Three major western donor organisations have indefinitely suspended projects in western Nepal due to what they say are threats by Maoist rebels.' (BBC)

China: 'Trouble Brewing: Why are the world's largest beer brewers fighting over a company in northeast China?' (Time)

Pakistan: 'Tribal Tribulations: A campaign to flush out Islamic militants hiding in Pakistan's Wild West tests the will of Islamabad and the U.S.' (Time)

India: 'The families of three British tourists murdered two years ago during an outbreak of religious violence in the Indian state of Gujarat have won the first round of their fight for compensation. The three Muslim men, all from Yorkshire, were attacked and killed by a Hindu fundamentalist mob which went on the rampage in February 2002 after 58 Hindus died in a firebomb attack on a train.' (Daily Telegraph)

Libya: 'The international community has expressed concern at Libya's death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor. The six medics are accused of deliberately infecting around 400 children with HIV to find an Aids cure.' (BBC)

India (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'Indian officials have ordered Jim Borst, 67, of the U.K.-based Mill Hill Mission working in Kashmir since 1963, to leave the country on the pretext that his visa has not been renewed. In an April 22 letter, officials of the Foreigners’ Registration Office threatened to take action against Borst, principal of Burn Hall School and St. Joseph’s school, if he did not leave the country “within seven days.” The Global Council of Indian Christians issued strong protests against the “unwarranted harassment of Father Jim” and appealed the decision to Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and other national officials. Borst has translated the New Testament and Book of Psalms into modern Kashmiri, according to sources in Kashmir. In recent months, hundreds of young Muslims and lower caste Hindus disillusioned with conflict in the region have reportedly turned to Christian missionaries for answers. “That must be one of the real reasons of the provocation,” a Christian leader in Kashmir said.' (Compass Direct)

Pakistan: 'At least five people have been killed and 50 injured by a bomb blast at a Shiite mosque in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, police said.' (CNN)

Nepal: 'Nepal's royalist Prime Minister, Surya Bahadur Thapa, has announced his resignation on national television and radio, after weeks of sustained and sometimes violent street protests by opposition groups.' (ABC Australia)

India: 'The president of the Bharitiya Janata Party (BJP), Venkaiah Naidu, predicts India's governing coalition will win a "comfortable majority".' (BBC)

China: 'Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has called on the European Union to lift restrictions on arms sales to China. Mr Wen was making his first official visit to the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels.' (BBC)

Egypt: 'A police officer in El Minia, Egypt, drove a truck into a canal killing three of his five bound prisoners, including an elderly church leader, according to a report from the U.K-based Barnabas Fund.' (Assist News Service)

Afghanistan: 'Two Britons and their Afghan interpreter have been killed in an attack in the east of the country, Afghan officials say. The workers were helping the United Nations prepare for landmark national elections due in September. The attack occurred on Tuesday in the Mandol district of Nuristan region, 200km east of the capital, Kabul.' (BBC)

China: 'China has shut down more than 8,600 unlicensed Internet cafes since February, many of them for admitting juveniles in violation of the law, the official Xinhua News Agency reports.' (CNN)

Pakistan: 'A 23 year-old Pakistani Christian has died of injuries as a result of five
days of severe torture by Islamic militants for refusing to convert to Islam, the UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports.' (Assist News Service)

Saudi Arabia: 'Saudi Arabia vowed on Tuesday to strike "with an iron fist" at militants who attacked a Saudi petrochemical site and pledged every effort to protect foreigners, five of whom died in the shooting spree.' (CNN)

Pakistan: 'China is to help Pakistan build a new nuclear power plant in the north of the country, the two sides have announced.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: ''Sesame Street' Comes To Afghanistan: The famous puppets of "Sesame Street" will help Afghanistan's children overcome their country's traumatic past, starring in videos to be shown in schools recovering from Taliban rule and decades of war.' (CBS)

Greece: 'The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians suspended relations Friday with the head of Greece's Orthodox Church - a move that could lead to severed ties between the two churches. The decision by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I followed a dispute over control of dioceses in northern Greece with Greek church leader, Archbishop Christodoulos.' (Guardian)

China: 'Three suspected SARS patients have the disease, the Chinese government confirmed today, raising to nine the number of people known to be infected in China’s latest outbreak.' (Ireland Online)

Sudan: 'Sudanese Christians receive boost from satellite broadcasts from SAT-7.' (Assist News Service)

Saudi Arabia: 'Two Britons and at least four other people, among them two Americans, were shot dead by terrorists in Saudi Arabia yesterday [Sunday] in an attack that left up to 19 people injured.' (Daily Telegraph)

Middle East: 'Breaking the Silence : After a spate of foiled plots and bloody attacks, the Arab world is starting to speak out against terror.' (Time)

Pakistan: 'Pakistan car bomb kills Chinese: A car bomb in south-west Pakistan has killed three Chinese engineers and injured 10 other people, police and officials say.' (BBC)

India: 'Key Indian states head for polls: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is hoping for decisive support in two key northern strongholds as campaigning draws to a close ahead of this week's penultimate phase of Indian elections.' (CNN)