Afghanistan: 'Afghanistan's Buddhas may rise again.' (The Independent)

Afghanistan: 'Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres has said it will pull out from Afghanistan because of the killing of five of its staff and the risk of further attacks.' (BBC)

India (text reproduced here; link to changing page): 'Tension has gripped the tribal village of Rohiyal Talal in the northwest state of Gujarat, India, after a mob of 15 local Hindu farmers desecrated a Christian church under construction in the hamlet. In an early-morning assault on Sunday, July 17, attackers demolished walls, iron gratings and windowpanes of the independent Protestant church. Officials at the nearby Kaprada police station have identified the assailants and say some are local leaders of the extremist Hindu organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad. However, no arrests had been made by press time. Attacks on Christian churches are a major issue of religious freedom in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where dozens of places of worship have been damaged or destroyed in recent months. Militants belonging to the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, which lost ground in India’s recent national elections, have distributed thousands of anti-Christian pamphlets accusing Christians of forcibly converting impoverished Hindus to Christianity, raising fears of yet more attacks.' (Compass Direct)

Kazakhstan: 'New fines and pressure on unregistered Baptists.' (Forum 18)

China: 'Chinese web-users are denied access to a range of religious sites based abroad, Forum 18 News Service has found after a two-month survey of how far the Chinese government's Golden Shield firewall, used to censor the internet, affects access to religious websites. Sites blocked include those related to the persecution of Christians and other religious faiths, the Dalai Lama, the Falun Gong religious movement, the Muslim Uygurs of Xinjiang and a number of Catholic sites, including the website of the Hong Kong diocese and the Divine Word Missionaries in Taiwan.' (Forum 18)

India and China: 'India and China have begun a second day of talks in Delhi on their long running border dispute.' (BBC)

Sudan: 'European Union foreign ministers are to join the U.S. and push for United Nations sanctions against Sudan if its government does not move to end the bloodshed in the troubled Darfur region.' (CNN)

Bangladesh: 'The UN has warned of a humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh where floods have claimed more than 300 lives. Officials say more than two-thirds of Bangladesh is inundated. Monsoon floods also continue to hit parts of India.' (BBC)

Sudan: 'International pressure is increasing on Sudan to stop the conflict in its Darfur region—which the UN says has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. While Sudan’s government continues to deny culpability for the crisis, Darfur’s rebels are also showing signs of intransigence.' (Economist)

Russia: 'In a revival of the practice of the mid-1990s, several Russian regions are again producing anti-missionary laws, mostly modelled on the 2001 law adopted in the southern Belgorod region.' (Forum 18)

Arab World: 'The Foreign Office has dropped its warnings against non-essential travel to Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.' (Daily Telegraph)

Uzbekistan: 'Following similar threats in April and May to other Protestant students in Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan in north-western Uzbekistan, three students of Karakalpak University were threatened with expulsion in June. The dean of their faculty, Dina Mamyrbayeva, said the secret police had written to her identifying them as members of a "banned Protestant sect".' (Forum 18)

Uzbekistan: 'In the latest twist to Uzbek authorities' campaign against Christianity in north-west Uzbekistan, the NSS secret police have interrogated two Baptists, beating one up, and threatening both with imprisonment saying that "we will put you away for years".' (Forum 18)

Mongolia: 'Canada has the Trans-Canada Highway. Brazil has the Trans-Amazon. Germany has the autobahn and Russia now has the Trans-Russian. Over the next few months, from westernmost Tsaganuur to Halhyn Gol in the east, road crews are working to add another one to the list, the Mongolian Millennium Highway.' (Australian Financial Review)

Pakistan: 'Amidst growing international pressure calling for the repeal of Pakistan’s ‘blasphemy law’ and Hudood Ordinances, State Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Raza Hayat Hiraj on 8 July announced the draft ‘Criminal Law (Amendment) Act’ which would revise these controversial laws. Campaigners believe that while it is welcome the draft doesn’t go far enough to protect human rights and religious freedom and continue to call for the total repeal of these laws.' (Barnabas Fund)

Arab World: SAT-7, the Arabic Christian satellite tv service, have launched SAT-7 KIDS, an extended block of Arabic programs for kids age 4-14. (SAT-7)

Pakistan: 'In the Pakistani military’s traditional stronghold of Punjab, paramilitary forces working with the army are killing and torturing farmers who refuse to sign contracts that would cede their land rights to the army, Human Rights Watch said. To coerce farmers to comply, paramilitary forces are torturing children and forcing couples to divorce.' (Human Rights Watch)

Sudan: 'A rebel leader from Sudan's troubled Darfur region says his group will not talk to the Sudanese government until it disarms Arab militias, casting doubts on U.N. hopes of fresh peace talks.' (CNN)

Syria and Iraq: 'Syria and Iraq are to work together to improve security along their border, amid concerns that foreign insurgents have been entering Iraq from Syria.' (BBC)

Turkey: 'The fourth rail tragedy to hit Turkey in as many days has left at least 15 people dead, after a passenger train slammed into a mini-bus in the country’s west.' (SBS)

Morocco: 'Morocco - home to most of the suspects in the Madrid train bombings - has warned Spain it has lost track of around 400 suspected Islamic terrorists.' (Independent)

Turkmenistan: '"Only two faiths are allowed, Islam and Orthodoxy" says deputy police chief.' (Forum 18)

Turkmenistan: 'Police control of believers set to continue.' (Forum 18)

Saudi Arabia: 'Saudi security forces killed two suspected militants and wounded three others in an exchange of fire in the capital Riyadh, officials say.' (BBC)

China: 'A Chinese military doctor who exposed the official cover-up of the SARS epidemic in Beijing and petitioned the Communist leadership over the Tianamen Square crackdown has been released from detention, a U.S. Embassy spokesman has said.' (CNN)

Saudi Arabia: 'Lawmakers cheered as the [US] House of Representatives voted on Thursday to strip financial assistance for Saudi Arabia from a foreign aid bill because of criticism that the country has not been sufficiently cooperative in the U.S. war on terror. The vote was a stinging defeat for the Bush Administration which had strongly opposed the measure saying it would "severely undermine" counterterrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia and U.S. efforts for peace in the Middle East.' (Reuters)

Pakistan & India: 'Pakistan's Prime Minister, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has vowed to pursue peace with India and resolve the two countries' differences. Mr Hussain was speaking at the start of a South Asian regional summit in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.' (BBC)

India: 'India's Supreme Court has ordered the government to release millions of dollars in compensation for victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.' (BBC)

India: 'Opening meet finds India's only hunt in the pink: Nearly six decades after independence from Britain, the harsh realities of India still stop at the gates of the 169-year-old Ooty Hunt Club.' (Daily Telegraph)

India: 'Doctors battled on Sunday to save the lives of children badly burnt in a devastating school fire in southern India that killed 90 classmates. Nearly 20 children are still in hospital in the little town of Kumbakonam which has been shrouded in gloom since Friday's blaze.' (CNN)

South Asia: 'Floodwaters are continuing to rise in South Asia, where more than 20 million people have been left stranded and hungry in scores of ravaged villages.
Officials say more than 11 million people are suffering acutely in India's poorest state, Bihar. More than 100 people have died in the floods in Bangladesh and India.' (BBC)

India: 'The widow of a murdered Australian missionary is leaving India after spending more than 20 years working among leprosy patients in one of the country's poorest states. Gladys Staines says she is tired and needs to rest.' (BBC)

Saudi Arabia: 'In Saudi Arabia foreign workers—who comprise one-third of the kingdom’s population—face torture, forced confessions and unfair trials when they are accused of crimes, Human Rights Watch said in a report that offers a rare glimpse into the Saudi justice system.' (Human Rights Watch)

India: 'U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has said sorry to India's former defense minister following allegations he was "strip-searched" at an America airport.' (CNN)

Iraq:A car bomb has exploded near the main police station and government offices in the Iraqi town of Haditha, killing at least 10 people and injuring 27.  (BBC)

Bill Gates Foundation : The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said Thursday it will give an additional $50 million to the United Nations's global fund to fight AIDS, a day after the United States said it won't give the resource-short charity any more money.  (CNN)

Pakistan: 'Secular politicians in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province are protesting at an extension of Sharia law they say will "Talebanise" society. ' (BBC)

Arab world: 'The arrival in Britain of the Islamic preacher, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, to take part in a conference has sparked a row because of his controversial views on suicide bombings' (BBC)

Nepal: 'Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba says he has formed a coalition government aimed at ending Nepal's long-running political deadlock' (BBC)

Nepal: 'Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba says he has formed a coalition government aimed at ending Nepal's long-running political deadlock' (BBC)

Nepal: 'Nepalese rebel ambush 'kills 13'' (BBC)

Iraq: 'Iraq to allow partial amnesty for some fighters' (CNN)

India: 'Mobiles outstrip India landlines' (BBC)

India: 'More Indians will be using mobiles than landlines by the end of 2004, India's communications ministry predicts.' (BBC)

Iraq: ''I am president of Iraq, the real criminal is Bush'' (telegraph)

Jordan: 'Jordan willing to send Iraq troops' (CNN)

India: 'India PM visits 'suicide' farms'(BBC)