Inner Asia

Tibet: new rights report documents repression

Eyewitness accounts confirm that Chinese security forces acted with deliberate brutality in the wave of Tibetan protests that began on March 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch says in a new report.

Greater Middle East

Yemen: al-Qaeda, Shi’ite rebels attack

Five Yemeni soldiers were killed in in a suspected al-Qaeda ambush in the south, while in the north dozens of pro-government tribesmen were killed in clashes with Shi’ite Houthi rebels.

East Asia

Oil spill, saber-rattling in Yellow Sea

The US and China are holding dueling military maneuvers in the Yellow Sea—just as it has been fouled by the worst oil spill in China’s history, following a pipeline blast at the port of Dalian.

Africa

Sudan: new escalation in war for Darfur

Nearly 400 have been killed in recent clashes between the Sudanese army and Darfur’s main rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)—the worst fighting in the region in two years.

Afghanistan

Pakistan: Islamist militants blow up mosque

A mosque and adjoining shrines were destroyed in an explosion at Ashkail village in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region, near the Afghan border. Some shrines held the remains of Sufi saints.

Iran

Iran: Sunni militants blow up mosque

The Jundallah militant organization claimed responsibility for coordinated suicide blasts that killed at least 27 during an evening prayer ceremony at the Grand Mosque in Zahedan.