Uzbekistan: 'Access to Andijan Trials Blocked. The Uzbek government has blocked international observers from monitoring two trials related to the May 13 events in Andijan, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the government to uphold fair trial standards, including the right to a public hearing, by allowing trial monitors into the courtroom. ' (Human Rights News)

Bangledesh: 'Police hunt Bangladeshi bombers. Police in Bangladesh have begun a huge manhunt for members of a militant group accused of carrying out two bomb attacks which killed nine people.' (BBC)

Malaysia: 'Malaysia minister defends police. The Malaysian minister in charge of the police has said that foreigners who do not like the way his officers behave should leave the country.' (BBC)

Kashmir: 'Baby becomes first victim of cold as winter hits Kashmir survivors.' (Independent)

Lebanon: 'As Syria sweats out a U.N. inquiry and international scrutiny, Lebanon faces a predicament of its own: Can anyone disarm Hezbollah, the 800-pound gorilla of Lebanese politics?' (Foreign Policy)

Bangladesh: 'Seven die in Bangladesh attacks. A survivor of one of the attacks is taken to hospital. At least seven people have been killed and 40 wounded in two bomb attacks near court houses in Bangladesh, police say.' (BBC)

China: 'Harbin water 'now safe to drink'. China cuts off water to downriver villages. Officials in a northern Chinese city where running water was shut down for five days after a pollution scare said Tuesday that water supplies were now safe for drinking.' (CNN)

Nepal: 'Nepal radio shut over BBC report. Police in Nepal have closed a radio station and arrested five staff members for trying to rebroadcast a BBC interview with the Maoist rebel leader.' (BBC)

Iran: 'Earthquake kills 10 as tremors hit Iranian isle. Up to 10 people were killed and dozens injured when an earthquake rocked four villages on the Iranian island of Qeshm yesterday lunchtime. State television showed images of victims, some with wounds, others bandaged and with limbs in plaster.' (Independent)

China: 'China mine blast toll rises to 134. An explosion at a coal mine in northeastern China has killed at least 134 miners and left another 15 missing, according to the official China news service Xinhua.' (CNN)

Iraq: 'Huge blasts near Baghdad ministry. Two powerful car bombs have killed at least six people outside a Baghdad interior ministry building at the centre of a detainee abuse scandal.' (BBC)

Pakistan: 'Pakistan 'needs $5.2bn quake aid. Pakistan needs at least $5.2bn to recover from last month's earthquake, President Pervez Musharraf has said.' (BBC)

China: 'China reports its first human victims of deadly bird flu. China has confirmed its first human cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu as it raced to vaccinate billions of poultry in an effort to contain the virus.' (Independent)

Korea: 'Bush seeks Asian unity on N. Korea. South reluctant to take nuclear issue to Security Council. BUSAN, South Korea -Counseling resolve and patience, U.S. President George W. Bush is looking for a show of unity among Asian leaders to press North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.' (CNN)

Saudi Arabia: 'Saudi Arabia: Teachers Silenced on Blasphemy Charges
Courts Again Punish Open Discussion by Teachers With Prison, Flogging' (Human Rights Watch)

Azerbaijan: 'Azerbaijan: Disturbing numbers of police raids on religious communities. Police raids on religious communities have continued to take place at a disturbing rate, Forum 18 News Service has found, especially on summer camps and open air preaching outside the confines of state-registered religious buildings.' (Forum 18)

Pakistan: 'Pakistan: Donors Need Accountability on Human Rights. A recent attack by Pakistani police on a camp of earthquake survivors highlights why international donors must insist on human rights protection in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Human Rights Watch said today. International donors are gathering in Islamabad on Friday to discuss aid for victims of the October 8 earthquake.' (Human Rights Watch)

Kazakhstan: 'Kazakhstan: What you won't learn from Borat Sacha Baron Cohen's comic creation portrays them as a band of goat-punching, woman-caging, urine-drinking anti-semites; the Kazakhs, understandably, object, and are threatening legal action. So what is central Asia's most obscure nation really like? 50 things you may not have known...' (Independent)

Turkey: 'Turkey: Headscarf Ruling Denies Women Education and Career. The European Court of Human Rights decision to uphold the Turkish government’s headscarf ban will deny thousands of women access to higher education and a professional life in Turkey, said Human Rights Watch today.'(Human Rights Watch)

Thailand: 'Thai villagers shot dead in raid. At least nine villagers have been shot dead and nine others wounded in a raid by suspected Islamic militants in Thailand's troubled south.' (BBC)

China: 'China 'has human bird flu case'. A senior Chinese official says H5N1 antibodies have been detected in a nine-year-old boy in Hunan province, the first admission of a human bird flu infection in China, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.' (CNN)

Afghanistan: 'Four killed in Afghan bomb attack. A suspected suicide car bomb has killed at least three civilians and the bomber himself in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, officials say.' (BBC)

Jordan: 'In wake of hotel blasts, 11 officials fired. Eleven officials in Jordan's royal court were fired Tuesday by King Abdullah II, Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said. Among them was the country's national security adviser, Muasher said. The reshuffling came less than a week after suicide bombings at three Amman hotels killed 60 people, including three bombers.' (CNN)

Uzebekistan: 'Uzbekistan: Andijan Show Trial Ends With Guilty Verdict. In a show trial that violated international fair-trial standards, the Uzbek Supreme Court today handed down a guilty verdict to all of the 15 defendants charged with crimes related to the May violence in Andijan, Human Rights Watch said. The men received prison sentences ranging from 14 to 20 years.' (Human Rights News)

Afghanistan: 'Afghanistan: The war with no end. British troops have come under attack in Kabul and Nato forces were targeted in two co-ordinated suicide car bombings in which at least four people died. The attacks took place as ministers revealed that units are preparing to extend Britain's role in Afghanistan when it takes command of the international peacekeeping operation next year. ' (Independent)

Pakistan: 'Pakistan quake aid falls far short. Last month's deadly quake in South Asia will cost Pakistan more than $5 billion -- more than twice the amount pledged so far, two international agencies have found in a joint report.' (CNN)

Nepal: 'Nepal: Legal Veneer for Repressing Civil Society. The Nepali government has instituted a Code of Conduct to restrict the activities of national and international “social organizations,” Human Rights Watch said today.' (Human Rights Watch)

Pakistan: 'Car bomb hits Karachi restaurant. At least two people have been killed and 15 others wounded as a car bomb struck a fast food restaurant in Karachi, southern Pakistan.' (BBC)

Pakistan: 'Fears for Test players as mob attacks Christians. A mob destroyed Christian churches and schools close to the venue of the next cricket Test between England and Pakistan, giving rise to fears yesterday about the English players' safety.' (Telegraph)

Azerbaijan: 'Azerbaijan protest draws 20,000. About 20,000 people have attended a protest in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, a week after a parliamentary election they say was rigged.' (BBC)

Jordan: 'Jordan 'failed bomber' confesses on TV. An Iraqi woman detained Sunday and accused of planning to be the fourth suicide bomber in last week's deadly attacks at Amman hotels confessed her participation in a televised video.' (CNN)

China: 'China plans jails for HIV inmates. A Chinese province has announced plans to build special jails to hold inmates with HIV or Aids, in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.' (BBC)

Afghanisatan: 'Afghan police die in rebel ambush. Suspected Taleban rebels have killed seven policemen and abducted two others in southern Afghanistan, officials say.' (BBC)

Turkmenistan: 'Turkmenistan: Border guards ban believers from leaving. Despite the claimed abolition of a requirement for permission to leave Turkmenistan, religious believers are still being denied permission to travel from the country.' (Forum 18)

Bangladesh: 'Persistent high stroke mortality in Bangladeshi populations. There has been little progress in understanding the reasons for this variation, let alone in identifying approaches to improve outcomes. Lessons learnt about stroke among British Bangladeshis may well apply to other populations at high risk, including Indians and Pakistanis, whose excess stroke mortality is not quite so high. In addition, such evidence could be highly relevant to reducing health inequalities.' (BMJ)

Jordan: 'King Abdullah of Jordan vowed last night that his country would not be "blackmailed" by al-Qa'eda after the terrorist group claimed responsibility for a triple suicide bomb attack in Amman.' (Telegraph)

Jordan: 'Caught in the middle, as usual. A co-ordinated terrorist attack on three hotels in Amman shows that Jordan is not the oasis of calm it claims to be.' (Economist)

Afgahanistan: 'Afghan violence claims 14 lives. Suspected Taleban rebels have killed seven policemen and abducted two others in southern Afghanistan, officials say.' (BBC)

Pakistan: 'The Kashmir earthquake: Failures on the road to disaster. Refugees from far-flung mountain villages are on the move in search of shelter before the first snowfalls. The relief effort for the homeless is desperately underfunded and disease has struck the camps.' (Independent)

Iraq: 'At least 34 dead in Baghdad suicide blast. A series of attacks in the Iraqi capital Thursday targeted police and civilians, including a suicide bombing at a restaurant that killed at least 34 people, Iraqi police said' (CNN)

Bangladesh: 'Many missing after ferry capsizes. At least 25 people are said to be missing after a ferry capsized in Bangladesh on Monday.' (BBC)

Pakistan: 'Pakistan disputes earthquake toll. The Pakistani government says it cannot confirm reports that the death toll from the South Asian earthquake has risen from 74,000 to 87,000.' (BBC)

India: 'India's Foreign Minister is sacked over oil-for-food. India's Foreign Minister became the first political casualty of the Iraq oil-for-food scandal yesterday when he was dismissed after being named in the Volcker report as one of thousands of politicians and companies alleged to have illegally profited from the programme.' (Independent)

China: 'China: the true costs of success. As President Hu Jintao arrives in Britain on a controversial state visit, these are the true costs of the economic success story of our age.' (Independent)

China: 'China orders bosses down mines. China's authorities have ordered that coal miners should always be accompanied underground by at least one manager, the Beijing News has reported.' (BBC)

Azerbaijan: 'Azerbaijan's ruling dynasty accused of rigging election. The people of Azerbaijan voted yesterday, some of them several times, in parliamentary polls that demonstrated the ruling dynasty's proficiency at winning elections, if not perhaps at grasping democratic principles.' (Telegraph)

China: 'China asks WHO help on flu cases. The Chinese government has invited the World Health Organization to assist in its investigation into three possible cases of avian influenza in Hunan province, state-run Xinhua news agency has reported.' (CNN)

Pakistan: 'Tear gas fired at Kashmir border. Pakistani police have fired shots in the air and tear gas shells to disperse angry Kashmiris as a crossing on the region's de facto border was opened.' (BBC)