Koreans remain hostage to Taliban
Twenty-three South Korean church workers remain in the custody of the Taliban in Afghanistan, with Taliban spokesmen suggesting that the hostages would be executed if any forceful attempt was made to recover them. South Korea is resisting Taliban demands to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
German officials denied that two kidnapped German engineers had been executed, while Chancellor Angela Merkel refused to "give in" to similar Taliban demands to withdraw the 3,000 strong German contingent in the country.
To receive our daily security briefings, click here.Fighting rages in Pakistan's northwest
Since Pashtun fighters tore up the Waziristan Accords, fighting has intensified between local groups and the Pakistani military in the restive northwest of the country, with Islamabad claiming to have killed 19 militants in recent clashes.
Five paramilitary soldiers were wounded by an Iraq-style road-side bomb in North Waziristan.
In a pamphlet entitled "Till Islam lives in Islamabad", militants promised the "gift of death" to Pakistani soldiers fighting in the northwest.
Israeli textbook uproar
A textbook for Arab students in Israel has irked many right-wing Israelis by including the Arab name for the war that created the Israeli, the "nakba". The disputed sentence reads: "The Arabs call the war the nakba, a war of catastrophe, loss and humiliation, and the Jews call it the Independence War". Education Minister Yuli Tamir, a member of the Labour party, defended the textbook as a small contribution to Israel's larger task of building bridges with its Arab citizens - at least a full fifth of Israel's population - while far-right leader Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the one reference to the Arab interpretation of events as "Arab propaganda".
The Desert Peace blog argues that the textbook move is only a small step in the right direction.
Yoni the Blogger claims that the textbook will breed the next generation of terrorist.
Militant group Hizbullah claims that despite the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006, it remains able to strike anywhere Israel.
Fighting continues to rage in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, with militants killing two Lebanese soldiers.
Iraq oil law doomed
Deep differences persist between Iraqi lawmakers over a proposed law to manage revenue generated by oil, the country's most lucrative resource. It seems unlikely that compromise will be reached before September when the US Congress will evaluate the benchmarks for progress it has set to continue its support for the war.
The seeming proliferation of the arts in Iraq has less to do with a general cultural renaissance than cynical political patronage.
Turkey's elections
The ruling AK party firmly won parliamentary elections in Turkey, retaining 339 out of 550 seats, despite massive political opposition by nationalist opponents in the months leading up to the elections.
For the first time in a decade, Kurdish representatives won seats in the parliament by circumventing a controversial voting law. Two dozen Kurdish MPs will join the new parliament.
Many Kurds believe that the outcome of the elections offers the "last chance for peace" between Kurds and Turks in Turkey, as violence between Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters and the Turkish army escalates.
The Qandil mountains in Iraq provide a rugged hideout for PKK guerrillas, and potential flashpoint for war.
Hard-line Turkish commentators argue that invading Iraq to sweep out the PKK is a matter of necessity that brooks no compromise.
Niger in Algerian aid plea
Officials from Niger met with their Algerian counterparts to solicit Algiers' help in combating Tuareg rebels in the north of the country. The rebel Niger Movement for Justice has killed 36 people and taken dozens of hostages since it began its uprising in February.
Somali peace conference lurches on
A planned reconciliation meeting of 1,000 clan, faction and government representatives in the Somali capital of Mogadishu continues despite ongoing violence in the city. Critics have dismissed the conference as meaningless because of a boycott on proceedings by the Islamic Courts Union, the Islamist group deposed by the January Ethiopia-backed sweep of the country.
According to the centre-right Counterterrorism blog, Russian businessmen and adventurers are supplying the ICU with arms.
