India/Pakistan: 'India-Pakistan in prisoner swap. The exchange follows a similar swap in September 2005 Nearly 300 prisoners are due to be released at the India-Pakistan border in the biggest exchange since recent talks between the two countries.' (BBC)

China: 'China in PR offensive to win access to space station. China opened up the control room at Aerospace City in the Beijing suburbs - the centre from where it has run its two manned space launches - to foreign observers yesterday as part of its efforts to be included in joint space projects.' (Independent)

Nepal: 'Nepal rebels still killing - US. The US has accused Maoist rebels in Nepal of continuing to kill people despite plans for them to join an interim government. ' (BBC)

Israel: 'Israeli soldiers push into Gaza. Israeli forces have taken up position in southern Gaza after an overnight incursion aimed at freeing a soldier captured by Palestinian militants.' (BBC)

Iraq: 'Violence in Iraq leaves 25 dead. Violence has continued despite the national unity proposalsViolence in Iraq has left at least 25 people dead as bombers struck busy markets in two mainly Shia towns.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: 'US-led force attacked near Kabul. Foreign soldiers have been targeted by the Taleban and their alliesA convoy of US-led coalition troops has been attacked by a suspected suicide bomber near the Afghan capital, Kabul, officials said.' (BBC)

Iraq: 'Maliki announces reconciliation plan to end Iraq's 'ugly picture'. The Iraqi leader unveiled a sweeping, 24-point national reconciliation plan on Sunday, offering amnesty to insurgents who renounce violence and have not killed American forces or Iraqis. ' (Independent)

India: 'In pictures: India's hidden beauty spot.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: 'Al Qaeda deputy hunted in Afghanistan. Karzai calls al-Zawahiri 'first enemy of the Afghan people'. Afghan President Hamid Karzai denounced al Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri on Thursday as the "cause of destruction" in his country.' (CNN)

China: 'China's cheats pay with their eardrums for university places. Chinese students are using innovative methods to get through highly stressful university entrance exams. The candidate gets a friend to check the textbook outside, asks the questions into a microphone in his sleeve, and receives the answers in a wireless earphone.' (Independent)

Iraq: 'Gunmen abduct 100 Iraqi workers. Gunmen kidnapped up to 100 workers as they finished work at an industrial complex north of Baghdad yesterday -Iraq's biggest mass abduction since the downfall of Saddam Hussein.' (Telegraph)

Nepal: 'Nepal Maoists 'will not disarm'. Maoist rebels in Nepal have said they will not lay down arms until elections are held for a body which will draw up a new constitution.' (BBC)

Egypt: 'Egypt releases blogger jailed for 45 days after 'insulting' President. Egyptian authorities have ordered the release of an award-winning blogger and activist, imprisoned 45 days ago on charges including insulting the President.' (Independent)

China: 'Surgery saves life of China activist after plea for help. Emergency surgery on a leading activist for the rights of farmers displaced by China's Three Gorges Dam appears to have saved his life but Fu Xiancai is unlikely ever to walk again. His neck was broken by unknown attackers as he walked home from a police interrogation on 8 June.' (Independent)

China: 'Crossing the Himalayas: China reopens a passage to India
At 15,000ft above sea level, the Silk Road pass is the world's highest - and loneliest - customs post. Now it is back in business in a bid to revive an ancient trade route ' (Independent)

Kyrgyzstan: 'The government of Kyrgyzstan must not return four Uzbek refugees to Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch said today. With their Kyrgyz judicial appeals now exhausted, the fate of the four men, who have been in Kyrgyz custody since June 2005, is in the hands of the Kyrgyz government. ' (Human Rights Watch)

Afgahanistan: ''Thirty' killed in Taleban attack. Helmand is among the most violent provinces in AfghanistanAt least 30 people have been killed in an attack by suspected Taleban militants in southern Afghanistan, a member of the Afghan parliament says.' (BBC)

Nepal: 'Nepalese rebels in landmark talks. It is the first time Prachanda (centre) has met a serving premierNepal's Maoist rebel leader has held talks with the prime minister in the capital Kathmandu, in the first such meeting between the two sides.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: '40 killed as troops take aim at Taliban. Police: 10 killed by explosives likely planted on minibusAt least 40 alleged insurgents were killed as part of Operation Mountain Thrust, a military operation aimed at routing out resurgent Taliban fighters who have recently cropped up in southern Afghanistan, the military said Thursday.' (CNN)

Afghanistan: 'Many dead in Afghan bus explosion. The bus was carrying Afghan workers to a coalition military base A bomb has destroyed a minibus in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing at least 10 people and injuring 15, police have said.' (BBC)

Iraq: 'Iraq implements new security plan. The new security plan is the toughest since the invasion of 2003Tough new security measures have been put in place in Baghdad in an effort to win back control of the city's streets.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: 'UN alarmed as Afghans remobilise militias to fight Taliban.
The Afghan government is reported to be remobilising disbanded militia groups to fight the Taliban as it faces an increasingly bleak security situation in the south of the country.
The strategy has caused alarm among both UN and Western diplomats, who argue that it runs contrary to the doctrine of strengthening central government. They say it also conflicts with the continuing UN programme of disarming armed groups outside the official police and army, and risks re-empowering factional forces to pursue private, tribal or inter-ethnic agendas. ' (Independent)

India: '48 killed in India truck accident. Police in a remote northern Indian village have retrieved 48 bodies after a truck crowded with wedding guests veered off a mountain road and plunged into a deep gorge Tuesday, a police official said.' (CNN)

Iraq: 'Iraq's Kirkuk rocked by bombings. The wounded were rushed away for treatment following the attacksAt least 16 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of bomb attacks on police in Iraq's northern oil city of Kirkuk.' (BBC)

Pakistan: 'Sikh pilgrims enter Pakistan city. Pakistan is willing to allow as many as 5000 Sikhs to enter LahoreThousands of Sikhs from India are due to arrive in the Pakistani city of Lahore to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of a religious leader.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: '37 militants killed in Afghanistan. Security forces raided a southern Afghan village and killed 15 suspected militants, including a relative of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, while fighting elsewhere left 25 dead, an Afghan army general said Monday.' (CNN)

Pakistan: ''Five' die in Pakistan explosion. The blast took place in a crowded areaAt least five people have been killed in a suspected bomb attack in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, police say.' (BBC)

China: 'China is arming world's worst regimes to fuel economic boom, says Amnesty. China's secret arms exports to some of the world's worst trouble spots are fuelling human rights violations and helping to sustain conflicts in countries such as Sudan, Nepal and Burma, Amnesty International says. ' (Independent)

Iraq: 'Zarqawi killed in Iraq air raid. Militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has announced.' (BBC)

Iraq: 'For the women of Iraq, the war is just beginning. The women of Basra have disappeared. Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, women's secular freedoms - once the envy of women across the Middle East - have been snatched away because militant Islam is rising across the country. ' (Independent)

Iraq: 'Violent Baghdad deaths top 6,000. Bodies of 6,000 people, most of whom died violently, have been received by Baghdad's main mortuary so far this year, health ministry figures show.' (BBC)

India: 'Hindus give praise to Ganges. Hundreds of Hindu devotees flocked to take a dip in the Ganges yesterday to celebrate Ganga Dashahara festival in the north Indian city of Allahabad.' (Independent)

China: 'China rejects Spain's 'genocide' claims. China has denounced a Spanish court's investigation into claims of genocide in Tibet as an interference in its internal affairs and dismissed the allegations as "sheer fabrication".' (Independent)

China: 'China rejects Spain's 'genocide' claims. China has denounced a Spanish court's investigation into claims of genocide in Tibet as an interference in its internal affairs and dismissed the allegations as "sheer fabrication". ' (Independent)

Afghanistan: 'Afghan car bomb 'hits US troops'. The level of violence has increased over the last monthA suspected suicide car bomber has attacked a US convoy in eastern Afghanistan, US officials say.' (BBC)

Iraq: 'Iraq: The face of the enemy.' (Independent)

Iraq: 'At least 40 killed in Iraq. 16 reported dead in mosque incident in Basra. At least 40 people -- some of them high school students -- were reported killed Sunday across Iraq, as the new government failed to name security ministers to deal with continuing violence.' (CNN)

Nepal: 'Nepal ex-ministers to be released. Supreme Court in Nepal has ordered the release of three former ministers in the government of King Gyanendra that gave up power in April.' (BBC)

China: 'Chinese villagers in land-grab 'riot' jailed. Human rights groups called for an investigation after 13 Chinese villagers were jailed for taking part in a riot last year, when police shot dead three people protesting over not receiving compensation for land which was seized for a wind- power plant.' (Independent)

Nepal: 'Maoists to hold key Nepal rally. Nepal's Maoist rebels are due to hold a political rally in the capital, Kathmandu, their first in the city in three years.' (BBC)

Turkey: 'Gas blast in Turkish mine kills 9. A methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in western Turkey Thursday evening, killing at least nine miners and trapping several others, authorities said.' (CNN)

China: 'Drought worsens China water woes. Parts of China are suffering their worst drought in over 50 years. But in the cities, demand for water is increasing as China's economic boom continues.' (BBC)

Afghanistan: 'Kabul troops 'fired in defence'. Several buildings were ransacked in KabulThe US military says its troops fired in self-defence after a traffic accident sparked mass rioting in Afghan capital Kabul on Monday. ' (BBC)