Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, a Lutheran pastor, has been denied a visa to China for a World Council of Churches meeting.

Philippine church leaders have joined efforts aimed at defending their country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, under pressure from China.

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Angie Zelter is facing deportation from South Korea following a nonviolent protest against the construction of a new naval base.

Afghanistan's war enters its second decade with the Taliban emboldened and the United States enfeebled, says Professor Paul Rogers. But the power-play between Pakistan, India and China is also now central to an assessment of what comes next. Afghanistan's future will be decided in Islamabad, New Delhi and Beijing as much as, if not more, than in Kabul and Washington.