Pakistan: 'Pakistan's new government launched its first military operation against Islamists at the weekend, moving against warlords who were threatening to overrun the major city of Peshawar.' (Reuters).

Nepal: 'The Maoist guerrilla leader who is about to become Nepal's prime minister faces a dilemma: how can he reconcile his ideology with the realities of political office? Raymond Whitaker met him' (Independent).

Israel / Lebanon: 'Israel's cabinet has decided to free a Lebanese guerrilla responsible for a notoriously brutal attack on an Israeli civilian family in return for the bodies of the two soldiers whose abduction triggered the 2006 Lebanon war.' (Independent).

Iran: 'Security police officials in Tehran this month tortured a newly converted couple and threatened to put their 4-year-old daughter in an institution after arresting them for holding Bible studies and attending a house church.' (Compass Direct).

Gaza / Israel: 'Israel said it would keep its border crossings with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip closed for a second day on Thursday, prompting the Islamist group to warn that the move could wreck a week-old ceasefire agreement.' (Reuters).

Pakistan: 'Pakistan on Wednesday moved about 3,000 troops into a tribal region where 20 local tribesmen were slain by Taliban militants, an army spokesman told CNN. (CNN).

Pakistan: 'Pakistani Taliban militants murdered 22 rivals captured this week when they seized a northwestern town, a government official and residents said on Wednesday.' (Reuters).

Indonesia: 'Local authorities accompanied by an Islamist mob attempted to demolish two buildings in a church compound used by three congregations in Jatimulya village, West Java province on June 14.' (Compass Direct).

Israel / Lebanon: 'Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will ask his Cabinet on Sunday to approve a deal with Hezbollah that would involve exchanging prisoners for two captured Israeli soldiers.' (CNN).

Tunisia: 'Rights group Amnesty International has accused Tunisia of carrying out illegal detentions and torture under its anti-terrorism policy.' (BBC).

Pakistan: 'The party of former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif blamed President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday for Sharif's disqualification from a by-election for a National Assembly seat.' (Reuters).

Iran: 'Iran condemned on Tuesday new sanctions imposed on it by the European Union and made clear they would not slow Tehran's nuclear activities, an Iranian news agency reported.' (Reuters).

Anglican Church: 'Conservative Anglican leaders have opened talks in Jerusalem on the future of the Church with criticism of its leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury.' (BBC).

Afghanistan: 'Four Afghan civilians were killed by rocket attacks on NATO-led bases in southern Afghanistan Sunday, including on barrage launched from across the border in Pakistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.' (CNN).

China: 'China paraded the Olympic torch through the streets of Lhasa at the weekend in a blaze of red flags, eager to present a picture of national unity and domestic harmony just three months after the Tibetan provincial capital was rocked by anti-Chinese riots.' (Independent).

India: 'A powerful Hindu-nationalist political party in western India has called for Hindu suicide squads to counter Islamic terrorism, causing outrage and embarrassing the national opposition with which it is allied.' (Reuters).

Britain: 'Hardline Church leaders have formally declared the end of the worldwide Anglican Communion, saying they can no longer be associated with liberals who tolerate homosexual clergy.' (Telegraph).

Gaza / Israel: 'A truce between Israel and Palestinian militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza took effect at 6 a.m. local time Thursday, after both sides spent the previous day trading blows.' (CNN).

China: 'China has posted hundreds of rescue personnel to shore up dams threatening to burst in southern mountainous areas under torrential rain that has already flooded 9,000 square miles of crops and homes. (Reuters).

Algeria: 'Convicted of blasphemy and evangelism in two separate cases this year, an Algerian Christian goes on trial in west Algeria for a third time tomorrow, again for evangelism.' (Compass Direct).

Gaza / Israel: 'Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire, Egyptian negotiators said, the result of months of talks to avert further bloodshed.' (Telegraph).

China: 'China locked down the far-western former Silk Road city of Kashgar on Tuesday in preparation for the passage of the Olympic torch relay through the sensitive region populated by ethnic-minority Muslim Uighurs.' (Reuters).

Pakistan: 'A bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least four people and wounding five others, police said.' (CNN).

Afghanistan: 'Hundreds of Taliban fighters have taken over several villages in the same southern Afghanistan province where about 400 Taliban militants recently escaped from prison, local officials and police said.' (CNN).

China: 'Thousands of victims of China's earthquake are moving to escape a new threat from rain-triggered landslides, officials said on Monday, while floods battered the nation's southern trade powerhouse.' (Reuters).

West Bank: 'Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Israeli plans to build 1,300 homes in East Jerusalem pose the "greatest obstacle" to Mideast peace.

His remarks followed a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has dubbed the Israeli settlement plans "simply not helpful." Earlier Sunday, Rice said she would raise the issue during talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.' (CNN).

Israel: 'The Israeli military has come under renewed pressure to explain why its tank shells killed a Reuters cameraman and eight other Palestinians on a road in Gaza two months ago.' (Independent).

India: 'Recent Incidents of Persecution' (Compass Direct).

India: 'At least 40 people have been injured in religious clashes on a remote delta island in India's eastern state of West Bengal, police say. (BBC).

West Bank: 'Footage from a video camera handed out by an Israeli human rights group appears to show Jewish settlers beating up Palestinians in the West Bank.' (BBC).

Gaza: 'Six people were killed and more than 60 were injured Thursday when an explosion ripped through a senior Hamas commander's house in northern Gaza, Palestinian security sources said.' (CNN).

China: 'The Dalai Lama hopes postponed talks between China and his envoys will resume next month, he said on Thursday, adding he supported China's desire for stability but that it must come "from the heart not the gun".' (Reuters).

India: 'Still struggling to rebuild their homes and lives after suffering large-scale attacks last Christmas season, Christians in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district continue to face ostracism and threats from Hindu nationalists.' (Compass Direct).

Pakistan: ' Relations between Washington and the new government in Islamabad have been dealt a severe blow after Pakistan angrily denounced the "unprovoked and cowardly" killing of 11 soldiers in a US air strike near the Afghan border.' (Independent).

Nepal: 'Nepal's former king Gyanendra has spent his last night in the palace compound in Kathmandu which has been home to the royal family for more than 100 years.' (BBC).

Turkey: 'All seven suspects on trial for the brutal murder of three Christians in Turkey in April 2007 appeared in court yesterday – each one protesting his innocence and incriminating one or more of the others.' (Compass Direct).

Jordan: 'Archaeologists claim to have found the world's oldest church dating from shortly after Christ's crucifixion.' (Telegraph).

Pakistan: 'Thousands of lawyers have started rallies and protests across Pakistan to demand the reinstatement of senior judges sacked last year.' (BBC).

Jordan: 'A Jordanian Islamic law court has annulled the marriage of a former Muslim because of his conversion to Christianity.

The North Amman Sharia Court in April dissolved the marriage of Mohammad Abbad, on trial for apostasy, or leaving Islam.

The 40-year-old convert fled Jordan with his wife and two young children in March after another Christian convert’s relatives attacked Abbad’s family in their home and his father demanded custody of Abbad’s children.' (Compass Direct).

Iran: 'Iran continued a wave of arrests against Christians in recent weeks, detaining a Tehran house church leader who was previously held and tortured for religious activity.' (Compass Direct).

Saudi Arabia: 'Saudi Arabia plans to call for a meeting of oil producing countries and consumers to discuss ways of dealing with soaring energy prices and work to prevent unwarranted increases, Information and Culture Minister Iyad Madani said Monday.' (CNN).

Israel / Iran: 'Israel yesterday attempted to play down a warning from a senior government minister that an attack on Iran was "unavoidable" if Tehran continued to develop nuclear weapons. The transportation minister, Shaul Mofaz, a key figure in Israel's dialogue with the US on Iran's nuclear programme, raised the prospect of a unilateral Israeli attack against Tehran on Friday, adding that international sanctions had been ineffective.' (Guardian).

Pakistan: 'Suspected militants killed four policeman in an ambush near Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday, a police official said.' (Reuters).

Algeria: 'Two bombs in quick succession rocked a train station in Algeria on Sunday, killing several people, including a French engineer and Algerian firefighters and soldiers who responded to the first blast, a security official said.' (CNN).

China: 'An aftershock has rocked the earthquake zone in Sichuan province, shaking a huge lake formed by the quake nearly one month ago and threatening to engulf more than one million people downstream.' (Independent).

Israel: 'Emergency services in Israel are reporting that rocket fired from Gaza has killed one person, and injured two.' (BBC).

Gaza: 'An attack on a Christian school in Gaza last weekend has created fear among the strip’s tiny religious minority, a Palestinian Christian said.' (Compass Direct).

China: 'Authorities in southwestern China watched nervously Wednesday as rising water behind an earthquake-created dam neared a spillway designed to relieve pressure on it.' (CNN).

Turkey: 'Two liberal theologians have taken Turkey's most famous Islamic clothes designer to court for exploiting religion, in a case highlighting the unease some feel at the ostentation of the country's new conservative high society.' (Independent).

Israel / Gaza: 'Israel's occupied territories and conflict with the Palestinians has undermined the country's economic growth and has cost at least an extra 36.6bn shekels (£5.7bn) in defence spending over the past two decades, according to an Israeli thinktank.' (Guardian).

Myanmar: 'U.S. warships will soon leave waters near Myanmar after the ruling military junta refused permission for the delivery of aid supplies to the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, a top U.S. commander said on Wednesday.' (Reuters).

Iran: 'Two Iranian converts to Christianity jailed for the past few weeks have been released by security police, who demanded valuable property deeds as bail collateral. (Compass Direct).

Algeria: 'An Algerian court gave four Christians suspended sentences and fines today for seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity, a Protestant church leader said.' (Compass Direct).

Nepal: 'Nepal's former king, Gyanendra, has agreed to vacate his palace within the next fortnight and live as a commoner, the home minister has said.' (BBC).

Algeria: 'For two hours yesterday on a street in Tiaret in western Algeria, police body-searched and interrogated a former Muslim on trial for practicing Christianity, a Protestant leader said.' (Compass Direct).

Thailand: 'Despite winning a string of government concessions, hundreds continued to protest on the streets of Thailand Monday, some calling for the country's prime minister to resign.' (CNN).

Pakistan: ' Suspected militants have again brought death and destruction to Pakistan's capital - detonating a massive car bomb outside the Danish Embassy that killed at least six people and wounded 35 others. The attack - the second against a foreign target in the last three months - is believed to have been carried out by extremists angered by the publication of drawings of the prophet Mohammed in Danish newspapers earlier this year.' (Independent).

Bangladesh: 'Blasts at a multi-storey hotel in the Bangladesh capital injured more than 30 people overnight, police and fire authorities said on Monday, adding the explosions appeared to have been caused by gas leaking from a room heater.' (Reuters).

China: 'Chinese soldiers and engineers have completed a spillway from an earthquake-created lake that was threatening to burst its banks in the central county of Beichuan, state-run news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.' (CNN).

India: 'A Muslim Indian seminary which is said to have inspired the Taliban has issued a fatwa against terrorism, insisting that Islam is a religion of peace.' (Independent).

Israel / Lebanon: ' A prisoner convicted of spying for Hizbollah was released to Lebanon by Israel yesterday as the guerrilla group handed over what it said were the remains of dead Israeli soldiers.' (Independent).