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A 26-year-old religious scholar wins Malaysian TV talent search for the best young imam, or Muslim leader.

Birthday boy James Anderson produces a superb bowling display to put England on top in the first Test against Pakistan at Trent Bridge.

US forces suffered the deadliest month of their nine-year Afghan campaign, with 66 service members killed in July.

Floods caused by heavy monsoon rain kill at least 385 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan, washing away whole villages, roads and bridges.

A desalination plant which begins operating in Madras on Saturday will provide some of the cheapest drinking water in India, backers say.

Workers struggle to clear crude with their bare hands

Violence erupts in the Bangladeshi capital as garment workers protest over a government-backed wage increase that fell short of their demands.

An endangered tortoise is seen on sale at an expo in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, highlighting concerns about the illegal pet trade.

A court in Nepal rejects an appeal by Frenchman Charles Sobhraj over his life sentence for the murder of a US backpacker.

Search teams in north-east China are still searching for thousands of barrels of toxic chemicals washed into a major river by flooding.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni criticises the Colombo pitch after the second Test against Sri Lanka peters out into a predictable draw to leave the hosts 1-0 up in the three-match series.

A consortium headed by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing agrees to buy the UK networks of French power group EDF for £5.8bn ($9.1bn).

China jails three ethnic Uighur men for running websites the government finds 'sensitive', a US-based activist group says.

A gang armed with firebombs attacks a private TV and radio station in Colombo, linked to former opposition presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka.

The mother of teenager Scarlett Keeling says she hopes the trial into her death in Goa will improve the region for tourists.

North Korea enters third round of talks with the US-led United Nations Command, days after a US military exercise.

Samsung Electronics reports record quarterly profits thanks to higher sales of smartphones and components such as memory chips.

The Singapore trial of UK author Alan Shadrake - for defamation and contempt of court over a book on the death penalty - opens and is adjourned.

Five paramilitary troops die in an explosion in India's north-eastern state of Assam, officials said.

One man has been seriously injured by a grenade explosion in the Thai capital Bangkok, less than a week after a similar blast.