India's conspiracy of silence
On the CNN-IBN blog, Sagarika Ghose watches the convictions of Muslims for involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombing and sees a toxic cloud of silence falling over Indian civil society.
To receive our daily security briefings, click hereCounterterrorism specialist Animesh Roul reports on recent al-Qaida tapes that urge attacks on Israel, Russia and India.
Elderly withdrawal
Village elders from the Pakistani regions of North and South Waziristan have backed out of attending a "grand jirga" of Pashtun leaders in Kabul. The meeting - convened with the support of Kabul and Islamabad - hopes to dampen support for the Taliban in the restive border regions of both countries and patch up troubled Afghan-Pak negotiations.
By the walls of Jericho
Israeli and Palestinian leaders Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas met in Jericho to discuss "fundamental issues" regarding Palestinian statehood. The meeting was the first high-level conference to be held in the occupied territories in years. Olmert insisted that discussions did not touch upon so-called "final status issues", such as the fate of Jerusalem and borders. With Palestinian politics severely splintered, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah dismissed the event as a "publicity gimmick".
Pre-accord reached
Despite missing a few rebel leaders, Darfur's major insurgent factions agreed on a common platform ahead of meeting with the Sudanese government.
Resignation refused
Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has rejected the resignations of six Sunni cabinet members and plans to sit down with leading Sunni politicians in a bid to save the country's fragile national unity government.
US officials cannot account for over half the weaponry and military equipment given to the new Iraqi army in recent years. This includes 110,000 rifles, 80,000 pistols, 115,000 helmets, and 135,000 pieces of body armour. Much of this equipment could have fallen into the hands of insurgents.
A bomb blast has killed dozens in the largely Shia area of the town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq.
Camp competition
Various Islamist groups are vying for control over Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest and most lawless refugee camp.
Kamil Khoury narrowly beat out the government-backed Amin Gemayel in elections to replace slain anti-Syrian MPs from a Christian district north of Lebanon.
Lebanese activists gather on 7 August to break the political deadlock in the country as part of the Khalass! campaign.
Spying on foreigners
The Democrat-dominated US congress has accepted legislation urged by the Bush administration that allows the electronic surveillance of foreign terrorism suspects without sanction from any court. Civil rights groups have protested the passing of the bill, which sailed through the Senate and House of Representatives.
Ogaden bomb
Rebels and government officials in Ogaden, the ethnic Somali region of Ethiopia, are blaming each other for two bomb blasts that killed one person and left eight injured.
Manila blast averted
Philippine police have arrested a suspected Muslim militant for planning a bomb attack in a crowded Manila shopping mall.
In the restive south of the country, 7,000 people have fled their homes before a rumoured army offensive against Muslim separatists.
Kurdish tug-of-war
The Turkish parliament, now with 22 new Kurdish parliamentarians entering its ranks, looks set to wrangle over the "Kurdish question".
