ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The likely next president of unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan following Saturday's election is a horse-loving aristocrat who has spent more years in prison than in politics — a novice leader lifted to prominence by his marriage to Benazir Bhutto and propelled into power by her murder.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A deadly American-led raid on a Pakistani village embarrassed the government and eroded support for the pro-U.S. presidential front-runner Thursday just two days before the election.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (IHT) Battles between government forces and ethnic Tamil separatists raged across northern Sri Lanka, with the military saying Thursday that it killed 28 rebels and the rebels claiming 11 government troops died in the fighting.

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Hindu mobs have burnt at least four more churches in Orissa, officials said on Monday, as religious violence appeared to spread.

(Bloomberg) -- A Hindu group seeking the transfer of land to caretakers of a shrine in Kashmir ended protests after the state government agreed to its demands, an official said.

NEW DELHI (IHT) Millions of farmers and their families may be displaced for months after severe floods in northern India wiped out crops and homes, leaving hundreds of villages under several feet of water, officials said Friday.

(Times Online) Thailand sank deeper into political chaos today, as anti-government demonstrators forced the closure of key airports and railway lines, stranding foreign and domestic passengers and increasing fears of yet another military coup.

(Bloomberg) -- India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the chief minister of the eastern state of Orissa to bring an end to religious violence between Hindu and Christian groups that's been raging for a week and has led to at least eight deaths.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's largest political party on Friday proposed the husband of assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto to succeed the ousted Pervez Musharraf as president.

(BBC News) Guest columnist Sumantra Bose on the lessons to be learned from the current unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir.

ISLAMABAD (Channel News Asia) Lawmakers from the party of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto have asked her widower to run for president in the wake of Pervez Musharraf's resignation, a minister said Thursday.

(BBC News) The party of the assassinated Pakistani politician, Benazir Bhutto, is pushing hard for her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, to become the country's next president. This comes in the wake of Monday's resignation of General Pervez Musharraf from the post.

PHNOM PENH (Channel News Asia) Cambodia's UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday indicted a former Khmer Rouge prison chief for crimes against humanity and war crimes, ahead of the first trial of regime leaders expected later this year.

(The Irrawaddy) Two decades have passed since the streets of Burma were filled with hundreds of thousands of triumphant demonstrators chanting over and over again, "We want democracy."

Kathmandu (IANS) Bhutan says it is ready to resume talks with Nepal over the repatriation of over 100,000 refugees who have been languishing in this Himalayan republic for nearly two decades, according to Bhutan’s official media.

(Times Online UK) India is set to clear one of the last three hurdles to its historic nuclear deal with the United States today when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approves a mechanism to safeguard and inspect Indian nuclear facilities.

LAHORE (The Post) South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a regional body of human rights activists, will welcome SAARC summit to be held in Colombo on August 2-3 and commended the member governments' decision to address people's daily concerns - food, water, energy and environment, and urged them to also ensure social justice by ensuring fundamental rights.

COLOMBO (Xinhua) Terrorism, food security and energy issues will top the agenda of the upcoming 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit to be held here, a leading Sri Lankan newspaper Daily News reported Monday.

SINGAPORE (Thaindian News) The failure of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) to settle an escalating border row between two of its members has sorely exposed the bloc’s weakness in resolving disputes within the organization.

(VOA) Burma will continue to require international aid to ensure communities hard hit by the devastation from Cyclone Nargis are able to avoid starvation. But, as Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, despite the help from the United Nations and Association of South East Asian Nations, senior ASEAN officials says the political situation in Burma continues to hinder their efforts.

(BBC News) It was 25 years ago this week that a minor insurgency in Sri Lanka began to turn into a full-scale civil war.

(BBC News) The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has called on Pakistan's new government to provide information about hundreds of disappeared people.

(Guardian) The Indian government and the much-vaunted nuclear deal it negotiated with George Bush in 2006 were last night on the brink of collapse after a bruising debate on a vote of confidence in parliament.

GAUHATI, India (AP) The tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan has formally adopted a new constitution that transforms it from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy, a move initiated by its royal family.

(BBC News) The controversial Lal Masjid or Red Mosque in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, is no stranger to violent confrontation.

(Bloomberg) Sri Lanka's government must free more than 400 civilians detained in a camp in the country's north after fleeing fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, Human Rights Watch said.

INDIA (Guardian) Delhi holds first parade as campaigners seek to overturn 19th-century law