China: 'Villagers rioted in southwestern China, attacking officials and burning cars, in protest against attempts to enforce strict family-planning policies, witnesses said on Monday, the latest in a series of protests nationwide.' (CNN).

Israel: 'An Israeli woman civilian was killed by a Qassam rocket last night after Israeli air strikes killed five Palestinians - including all four members of an Islamic Jihad rocket launching cell.' (Independent).

Lebanon: 'A bomb in Beirut wounded at least 10 people and the Lebanese army continued shelling a Palestinian refugee camp yesterday as fears grew that a battle with Islamic militants could spiral out of control.' (Telegraph).

Iraq: 'Church leaders in Iraq reported that kidnappers have demanded a huge ransom for the release of a Chaldean priest abducted in Baghdad over the weekend.' (Compass Direct).

Bangladesh: 'Clashes between police and rioting garment workers demanding payment of wages left one person dead and about 60 people injured in Bangladesh.' (Reuters).

Afghanistan: 'A suicide bomber killed 10 civilians and wounded at least 30 other people in a crowded market in the southeastern Afghan province of Paktia on Sunday, officials said.' (Reuters).

Pakistan: 'About 40 Islamic students have been detained amid continuing tension over two policemen being held hostage at a mosque in the Pakistani capital.' (BBC).

Lebanon: 'Lebanese tanks pounded the headquarters of a group with suspected links to al Qaeda in a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli Sunday after the northern city's worst clashes in two decades killed 22 soldiers and 17 militants.' (CNN).

China: 'Government-sanctioned persecution of Christians has darkened the landscape of the Xinjiang province in north-western China. (Compass Direct).

Gaza: 'Six Palestinians were killed yesterday and several dozen wounded when Israel unleashed a series of air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza after a spate of rocket attacks launched by militants into Sderot.' (Independent).

Nepal: 'A US offer to resettle 60,000 Bhutanese refugees has given hope to many of the 106,000 refugees living in Nepal for more than 16 years, but has also heightened tensions in the camps, Human Rights Watch said.' (Human Rights Watch).

Korean Peninsula: 'Two trains from North and South Korea crossed the heavily armed border on Thursday, restoring for the first time an artery severed in the 1950-1953 fratricidal war and fanning dreams of unification.' (CNN).

Syria: 'A British man who disappeared in Syria for three months says he was kidnapped and forced to confess he was a terrorist preparing to go to Iraq.' (BBC).

Gaza: 'The deputy Palestinian prime minister, a Fatah leader, asked President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to declare a state of emergency over the fighting in Gaza, a move that could allow him to rule by decree.' (Reuters).

Myanmar: 'Another 10 activists trying to pray for the release of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested on Wednesday, taking the total to nearly 50 in two days, friends said.' (Reuters).

Pakistan: 'A hotel blast in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday left 25 people dead and 30 injured, police said.' (CNN).

Saudi Arabia: 'Four suspected al Qaeda members arrested in Saudi Arabia last year had planned to attack the kingdom's oil facilities and other Gulf Arab oil producers, they said in confessions shown on Saudi television on Tuesday.' (Reuters).

Tibet: 'The spiritual leader of the Tibetan people is now 71 - and finally talking about retirement. But his successor is likely to face the same life of exile as China's persecution continues.' (Independent).

Gaza: ' The Palestinian Interior Minister has resigned in despair amid a surge of violence between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip.' (Independent).

Turkmenistan: 'Vyacheslav Kalataevsky, a Baptist leader from the Caspian Sea port of Turkmenbashi was today (14 May) given a three-year labour camp sentence for illegally crossing the border in 2001. His family have insisted to Forum 18 News Service that the sentence was imposed to punish him for his activity with the unregistered Baptist congregation in the city.' (Forum 18).

Pakistan: 'Christians in Charsadda and Mardan, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, have received letters threatening that they must close their churches and convert to Islam within ten days. Although some letters did not say what the consequences would be if Christians failed to comply, others are reported to have threatened bombing or the execution of all Christians.' (Barnabas Fund).

Pakistan: 'Pakistan's government on Sunday gave its paramilitary forces authority to shoot on sight in an effort to quell political clashes in the southern port city of Karachi that have killed 42 people in the past two days.' (CNN).

Afghanistan: 'Top Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah Lang has been killed in a military operation in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Forces said Sunday, confirming earlier reports by the Afghan government.' (CNN).

India: 'A party championing India's lowest castes appeared set to head a coalition government after elections in the country's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, early trends from the counting of votes showed on Friday.' (Reuters).

Gaza: 'A Hamas-run TV station has resisted a call from Palestinian authorities to suspend a children's show in which a Mickey Mouse lookalike urges young viewers to seek global Islamic domination.' (Independent).

Uzbekistan: 'Following the jailing for four years of Protestant Pastor Dmitry Shestakov, Pentecostal Christian Salavat Serikbayev was today (10 May) in Uzbekistan given a two-year suspended jail sentence for teaching religion illegally, Forum 18 News Service has learnt.' (Forum 18).

Pakistan: 'Unidentified gunmen fired shots early on Thursday morning at the home of a top anti-government lawyer in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.' (BBC).

Afghanistan: 'At least 21 civilians, including six children, have been killed in US air strikes in Afghanistan, leading to angry protests among locals.' (Independent).

UK: 'Hindus across Britain are threatening to form a human chain to prevent the slaughter of a sacred bull after it tested positive for tuberculosis.' (Telegraph).

India: Recent incidents of persecution of Christians across India (Compass Direct).

Iraq: 'A truck bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Wednesday killed 12 people and wounded 40, a Kurdish security official said.' (Reuters).

Uzbekistan: 'A court in Uzbekistan has suspended the seven-year jail sentence given last week to an Uzbek human rights worker.' (BBC).

Philippines: 'At least five people were killed and 13 wounded on Tuesday in a bomb blast near a market in the southern Philippines, police said.' (Reuters).

India: 'The final round of polling in India's most populous state began on Tuesday, with voters saying they are tired of feeling their only choice is to vote for people seen as sympathetic to their caste and religion.' (Reuters).

UK: 'Schools with large numbers of white pupils may be taken over or closed if they fail to promote race relations and links between different religious groups, according to Government guidance.' (Telegraph).

Syria / US: ' The Bush administration has ended its diplomatic quarantine of Syria by having the Secretary of State meet her counterpart from Damascus during a conference in Egypt that the US hopes will be a first step towards restoring stability to Iraq' (Independent).

Pakistan: 'Pakistan's ousted chief justice has told a crowd of thousands in Lahore that dictatorships which ignore the rule of law face "destruction".' (BBC).

Israel: 'Israel accused of prisoner abuse (BBC).

China: China warns of population growth (BBC).

Egypt: 'Nine foreign peacekeepers, including French and Canadian soldiers, were killed Sunday when a French plane attached to the Sinai's multinational peacekeeping force crashed in a remote, mountainous area of the desert, the force's spokesman and police said.' (CNN).

Turkey: An analysis of the current situation, and of its roots in the foundation of the secular Turkish republic by Ataturk. (Daily Telegraph).

Afghanistan: 'A roadside bomb ripped into an Afghan army bus in the capital, Kabul, on Thursday, killing the driver and wounding 14 people, including seven soldiers, police said.' (Reuters).

US / Iran: 'The most important meeting between American and Iranian officials since George Bush became President office in 2001 could take place today.' (Independent).

Israel: 'Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday that he should resign over his handling of last summer's war in Lebanon.' (CNN).

Gaza: 'Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has said he is working hard to secure the release of abducted BBC correspondent Alan Johnston.' (BBC).

Turkey: 'Turkey's highest court halted a parliamentary vote Tuesday that looked certain to install an Islamist president.' (CNN).

Australia: 'Nine men who allegedly stockpiled bomb-making chemicals and vowed to avenge perceived injustices against Muslims were ordered to stand trial for Australia's largest terrorist conspiracy, court officials said Tuesday.' (CNN).

Afghanistan: 'British, Nato and Afghan forces have launched offensives in the west and south of the country, with reports that "scores" of Taliban rebels have been killed during heavy fighting.' (Independent).