Kashmir: 'Thirteen people have been killed in clashes between militants and security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.' (BBC).

Iraq: 'US President George W Bush has appealed for people to give his strategy in Iraq a chance - holding up Israel as a model for defining success there.' (BBC).

Myanmar: 'The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday accused Myanmar's ruling junta of committing serious abuses against detainees and civilians, in a rare public censure from the humanitarian agency.' (Reuters).

Bangladesh: 'Muslim villagers armed with bricks and wooden clubs savagely beat 10 Christian converts in Nilphamari district, Bangladesh, on Tuesday and threatened to burn down their homes if they did not leave by today.' (Compass Direct).

UK/Gaza: 'World powers named Tony Blair as their Middle East peace envoy on Wednesday, handing the outgoing British prime minister a daunting new challenge on a day Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.' (Reuters).

Afghanistan: 'A suicide car bomber hit a vehicle carrying foreign troops in the Afghan capital on Thursday and may have killed two soldiers, police officials said.' (Reuters).

Pakistan: 'Bad weather has hampered efforts to rescue thousands of people stranded after a cyclone struck Pakistan's Arabian Sea coastline.' (BBC).

Gaza: 'Israeli forces killed at least six Palestinian militants in two separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medics said.' (Reuters).

India: 'Maoist rebels in eastern India have burnt down a railway station in a second day of protests against the government's economic policies.' (BBC).

Kazakhstan: 'In Kazakhstan, a judge has begun reading the verdict in the trial of 21 medical workers accused of causing an HIV outbreak among children.' (BBC).

Middle East: 'Tony Blair has landed a major diplomatic job as the international Middle East peace envoy, responsible for preparing the Palestinians for negotiations with Israel. His role, to be announced today, will be largely to work with the Palestinians over security, economy and governance.' (Guardian).

Iran: 'Iran's state broadcaster will launch a 24-hour English-language satellite news channel next week to rival dominant Western services, a senior official said on Tuesday.' (Reuters).

Pakistan: 'A cyclone hit the coast of Pakistan on Tuesday, dumping torrential rain over a thinly populated region days after about 230 people were killed when a storm lashed the country's biggest city, Karachi.' (Reuters).

Egypt: 'Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court heard a final appeal last week for 45 Coptic Christian citizens who were denied their attempt to legally reclaim their Christian identities after officially converting to Islam.' (Compass Direct).

UK: 'A teenage schoolgirl will appeal to the High Court on Friday to overturn a ban on her wearing a "purity ring" at school to symbolize her decision to abstain from sex before marriage.' (Reuters).

Israel/Gaza: 'The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved the release of frozen tax funds to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, officials said, in a step to bolster the moderate Palestinian leader in his standoff against the Islamic militant group Hamas.' (CNN).

Pakistan: 'Pakistani officials Sunday continued to search for survivors a day after heavy rains collapsed buildings and brought down power lines in Karachi, killing more than 230 people, provincial health and police officials said.' (CNN).

Lebanon: 'A suspected car bomb struck a United Nations peacekeeping patrol Sunday in southern Lebanon, killing five Spanish peacekeepers and wounding three others, Spain's Defense Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.' (CNN).

Gaza/Israel: 'Israel eased its cargo blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Thursday, saying that humanitarian aid could be allowed through and other goods redirected to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.' (Reuters).

Pakistan: 'Satellite images show that Pakistan is building a nuclear reactor that can produce weapons-grade plutonium, an American watchdog group said Thursday, warning that it could contribute to an atomic arms race with archrival India.' (CNN).

Lebanon: 'Lebanon's defense minister declared victory Thursday over the Fatah Islam militant group, saying it had been crushed after a month-long military assault on its stronghold in a northern refugee camp and only mopping up remained.' (CNN).

Pakistan: 'Christian families fled a Pakistani village in Punjab province this week after an armed mob injured Protestants preparing for an evangelistic meeting, the victims’ lawyer said.' (Compass Direct).

UK/US: 'The White House revealed yesterday that Tony Blair and George Bush have discussed the outgoing Prime Minister taking on a UN role as Middle East envoy.' (Independent).

Gaza: 'Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday denounced Hamas leaders as "traitors," blaming them for planning their "bloody coup" in Gaza while participating in a unity government.' (CNN).

Turkey / Iraq: 'Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters his government would authorize a military cross-border operation into northern Iraq to crack down on Kurdish PKK rebels if required.' (Reuters).

Cambodia: 'For all the evidence of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime, children in Cambodia know remarkably little about this dark episode in their country's history...That is set to change with the publication of a new textbook aimed at the country's teachers and designed to fill in many of the blanks about the period' (Independent).

UK / Iran: 'The diplomatic row over Salman Rushdie's knighthood has deepened after Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to complain about the inclusion of the author in the Queen's Birthday Honours.' (Telegraph).

Uzbekistan: Complaining that it was "too dangerous" to continue to meet, the Resurrection Full Gospel Pentecostal Church in the Fergana Valley town of Andijan - long denied state registration - has decided to close down (Forum 18).

India: 'A court in India has convicted 14 Hindus of mass killings of Muslims during some of the country's bloodiest religious rioting nearly 20 years ago.' (BBC).

Pakistan / UK: 'Pakistan has condemned Britain's award of a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie as an affront to Muslim sentiments, and a Cabinet minister said the honor provided a justification for suicide attacks.' (CNN).

Iraq: 'An Iraqi Chaldean priest kidnapped 12 days ago in Baghdad was released yesterday, a church leader said.' (Compass Direct).

Israel: 'At least two Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon landed near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on Sunday, police and Israel Defense Forces said.' (CNN).

Gaza: 'Hamas issued an ultimatum today to the Palestinian militants holding Alan Johnston in the Gaza Strip, threatening to free him by force if they do not release him by the end of the day.' (Telegraph).

Thailand: 'A roadside bomb blast has killed at least seven soldiers in southern Thailand, police said.' (BBC).

Gaza: ' The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the "national unity government" last night and sacked its Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh after an especially savage day of internecine violence ended with Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip.' (Independent).

UK: 'Two out of three people believe that there are too many migrants in Britain, according to a Government-commissioned report on how to bring the country's increasingly diverse communities closer together.' (Telegraph).

Lebanon: 'Mourners marched in a funeral procession Thursday for a prominent anti-Syrian legislator killed by a car bomb in a new blow to the stability of Lebanon.' (CNN).

Lebanon: 'Lebanon will bury on Thursday a high-profile anti-Syrian legislator, killed in a bomb attack which exacerbated the country's deep political crisis.' (Reuters).

India: 'A slice of Delhi's culture has come to an end this week with the banning of rickshaws from Chandni Chowk, the historic artery running through the ancient walled part of the city which is famed for its narrow streets and crowded bazaars.' (Independent).

Gaza: 'The radical Islamic party Hamas tightened the noose around the remnants of its moderate rival Fatah yesterday in the battle for control of the Palestinian government.' (Telegraph).

Iraq: 'Iraqi church leaders continue to hope for the release of a priest kidnapped exactly one week ago, even as the number of threats against Christian families in the Iraqi capital tops 1,000, church sources said.' (Compass Direct).

Gaza: 'Hamas Islamist gunmen pressed on with their Gaza offensive on Wednesday, killing at least eight fighters loyal to Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas in a Palestinian power struggle bordering on civil war.' (Reuters).

Iraq: 'Suspected al Qaeda militants blew up two minarets of a revered Shi'ite mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra on Wednesday, targeting a shrine bombed last year in an attack that sparked a wave of sectarian killing.' (Reuters).

Afghanistan: 'In a filthy corner of a clinic in Lashkar Gah, a heavily pregnant 12-year-old lies wailing at a curt, dismissive doctor. Down the road some of the thousands of widows in the area beg in the mud. In the local hospital, women lie recovering from the horrific burns of failed suicide attempts. The brave new world promised by Tony Blair, President George Bush and Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, appears not to have reached the women of Helmand.' (Independent).

India: 'A mob of Hindu extremists beat a pastor and tried to set him on fire before parading him naked in the suburbs of Bangalore, capital of Karnataka state.' (Compass Direct).

Thailand: 'Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is free to return from exile as soon as he wants to challenge graft allegations against him, as well as the seizure of $1.5 billion in assets, his successor said on Tuesday.' (Reuters).

Gaza: 'Hamas gunmen stormed a Fatah security headquarters in Gaza City on Tuesday, moving Palestinians closer to civil war, minutes after the Islamist group's deadline for its rival to quit key strongholds expired.' (Reuters).

Bangladesh: 'Landslides, flash floods, and lightning strikes killed at least 78 people yesterday as unusually powerful monsoon rains hammered southeastern Bangladesh, rescue officials and witnesses said.' (Independent).

Lebanon: 'Two Red Cross workers were killed Monday at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon as Lebanese forces and Islamic militants battled, a Red Cross representative said.' (CNN).

UK: 'A father has been found guilty of killing his daughter in what police have described as an honour killing.' (BBC).

Bangladesh: 'More than 50 people have been killed in mudslides following heavy rains in the port town of Chittagong in Bangladesh, officials say.' (BBC).

Egypt: 'The Muslim Brotherhood said police beat and detained its representatives or forced them from polling stations on Monday as Egyptians voted in the first parliamentary elections under an amended constitution.' (Reuters).

Lebanon: 'Lebanese troops rained down artillery and tank fire on a Palestinian refugee camp on Monday, pressing ahead with an assault to crush al Qaeda-inspired militants dug in there.' (Reuters).

Gaza: 'Israeli aircraft launched airstrikes in Gaza City early Sunday, one day after Palestinian gunmen crossed the Gaza border, believed to be the first such incident in a year.' (CNN).

Afghanistan: 'Taliban militants fired rockets near President Hamid Karzai in an apparent assassination attempt in central Afghanistan on Sunday, but the missiles fell far from their target and no one was hurt, officials and witnesses said.' (CNN).

Iran: 'Iran is investigating a fourth Iranian-American citizen detained on security-related accusations, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Friday.' (Reuters).

Israel / Syria: 'An Israeli newspaper said on Friday that Israel has told Syria it is prepared to withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for lasting peace, adding to growing signals that Israel is looking to resume negotiations.' (Reuters).

Bangladesh: 'UN officials are urging the authorities in Bangladesh to clarify the fate of a UN human rights expert prevented from leaving the country since mid-May.' (BBC).

India: 'A court in India has agreed to consider a challenge by an environment group to the commissioning of large dams in the country's north-east.' (BBC).

Oman: 'A massive cleanup began Thursday in Oman's small seaside capital, after Cyclone Gonu ripped down trees and bridges and poured mud onto a city often called the Arab world's tidiest.' (CNN).