Bomb blasts in the Ogaden region
At least 16 people are suspected dead after two attacks in the eastern Ethiopian towns of Jijiga and Degah Abur on Monday. Five people were killed in Jijiga after a hand grenade was thrown as hundreds gathered at a local stadium, while six others were crushed to death in the ensuing stampede. Among those injured was the local president. Five suspects have been arrested by Ethiopian police.
Ethiopia has opened an embassy in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, joining Yemen, who re-established a diplomatic presence in the beleaguered city earlier this year.
Tougher US sanctions on Sudan
United States President George W. Bush has announced that further sanctions are to be brought against Sudan over the conflict in Darfur, with more individuals and companies involved in the violence to be proscribed from banking or trading with the US. He will also request that the United Nations (UN) Security Council increase pressure on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
A senior Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson has described expanded US sanctions as neither justified nor timely. Sudanese officials have said they desire to seek a compromise over the proposed "hybrid" peacekeeping force.
Maoist rebels wound 8 Philippine soldiers
Eight Philippine soldiers have been wounded in an ambush by communist New People's Army (NPA) insurgents in the northern province of Aurora; a local army commander has warned that more guerrilla attacks seem likely.
Four people have been killed in an explosion in the Songkhla province in southern Thailand. 13 people were wounded by a series of coordinated explosions on Sunday in the tourist resort of Hat Yai, Songkhla province.
Heightened security in Colombo
Sri Lankan security forces have increased vehicle checks in the wake of a series of bomb blasts in the last 24 hours. Eight people were killed on Monday evening in a blast on the edge of the capital, while another three people were killed in an explosion in the northern town of Vavuniya early on Tuesday. Officials suspect the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Peshawar car bomb injures 6
A car bomb has wounded at least six people outside the high court building in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar.
A retired Canadian police officer has testified that he was not warned about a possible bomb threat to Air India Flight 182, just days before the 1985 explosion killed 329 people.
EU to re-launch nuclear dialogue with Iran
European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana has confirmed that he is to meet with the Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani this week in a bid to "re-launch the dialogue" on Iran's nuclear programme.
During the first bilateral public talks between the US and Iran for nearly 30 years, US envoy Ryan Crocker called upon his counterpart to stop arming militants in Iraq - a charge which the latter denied. Both parties agreed that a stable Iraq was in their best interests, with future talks planned.
Security talks marred by violence across Baghdad
As US and Iranian ambassadors met in the city's Green Zone, Baghdad reverberated with the sound of mortar fire and car bombs on Monday. In the worst incident, 24 people were killed by a car bomb near the Abdul-Qadir al-Gailani mosque.
Three Western lecturers and their bodyguards have been kidnapped in Baghdad by gunmen wearing police uniforms.
At least 22 people have been killed and 55 others wounded in a bomb blast near a major intersection in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad on Tuesday.
Two US soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash north of Baghdad, while six more were killed when their convoy was ambushed en route to the crash site.
Britain's top-level emergency committee, COBRA, are due to meet to discuss the kidnap of several British nationals in Iraq.
Read Inside Iraq and Dahr Jamail's Weblog, for an on-the-ground perspective of events in Iraq.
Police fire on Afghan protestors
Afghan police opened fire on demonstrators in the Jowzjan province on Monday, killing 13 and wounding 32.
Read a discussion on the shooting at the Afghanistanica blog.
Ehud Barak's political rebirth?
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak has won the first round of the Israeli Labour Party's leadership election, defeating both the former chief of Shin Bet, Ami Ayalon, and ousted Labour leader Amir Peretz. He will face Ayalon in the runoff vote next month. Both candidates have called upon Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign after the Winograd Commission findings.
Israeli security forces have arrested a senior Fatah official in the West Bank and have killed two Hamas fighters in Gaza Strip amid continuing raids on Tuesday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are due to meet next week to discuss security issues.
A UN human rights investigator has accused Israel of violating international law in its "disproportionate" use of force and killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip. Firing of Qassam rockets into the Israeli town of Sderot by Palestinians has also been described as illegal.
Turkey formally warns US after airspace incursion
Ankara has formally asked the US to avoid violating its airspace after two US F-16 warplanes briefly infringed Turkish airspace near the Iraqi border last week.
Meanwhile, national secularists have ended their series of protests against the formation of an Islamic state in Turkey. Yet the battle rages still in classrooms, courts and laboratories, as science faces off against creationism amid the changing shape of Turkish society.
Spanish police detain 16 Islamist radicals
Spanish police have detained 14 Moroccans and two Algerians accused of indoctrinating others in Islamic teachings of jihad, and having recruited Islamist fighters for Iraq and North Africa. The arrests are purportedly connected with those of 22 people in January.
