The Zimbabwean presidential election run-off is not credible without an immediate end to intimidation, violence and torture and deployment of reliable international election observers, the Catholic Church in the region says.

A closer look at the Sri Lankan experience may throw some light on other situations where struggles supposedly based on ethnicity or religion turn out to be more complex – and where human rights are of critical importance, says Savi Hensman.

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, has called for an arms embargo against Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, amid growing evidence of a campaign of violent intimidation against political opponents.

Pro-Tibet freedom protesters from media rights group Reporters Without Borders broke through the cordon of 1,000 police officers in Olympia, Greece, as China's envoy spoke and the Olympic torch was lit prior to the Beijing games.

The new Orthodox metropolitan of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia says his priorities include dealing with the Chinese government to bring about the proper recognition of Orthodox Christians in mainland China.

Recent religious conflict in the Indian state of Orissa has been aided by the aggressive evangelising of missionaries from outside the region, says an official with the largest traditional Protestant denomination in northern India.

The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, a network of church and civic bodies, says it has no hope that inter-party peace talks brokered by South Africa's Thabo Mbeki will achieve results before Zimbabwean elections scheduled for 29 March.