As Sunday’s (July 22nd) elections ended with a landslide victory for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), reaction from the international community was positive.

Egypt’s official religious adviser has ruled that Muslims are free to change their faith as it is a matter between an individual and God, in a move which could have far-reaching implications for the country’s Christians.

At a second meeting with his Iranian counterpart in two months, the US ambassador blasted Tehran on Tuesday for arming and training Shiite militias but agreed to set up a security subcommittee with Iran and Iraq to carry forward work on stabilising the country.

Six foreign medics sentenced to death then life imprisonment in Libya in a controversial AIDS case were free in the Bulgarian capital Tuesday after the EU struck a multi-million-dollar financial and trade deal with Tripoli.

Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit are expected in Israel today for talks to activate an Arab peace initiative.

KING ABDULLAH on Tuesday discussed with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice international efforts to move forward peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Military activity in Chechnya and neighboring Ingushetia significantly increased. According to official data, 24 kafir and munafiqs were eliminated and wounded in one day in Chechnya and Ingushetia.

The British ambassador to Moscow today denounced Russia over its continuing failure to extradite a former KGB officer for the killing of the Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko. Sir Anthony Brenton said Anglo-Russia relations were not in crisis but there were sharp differences over the Litvinenko affair.

As the battle for Islamic Somalia continues, the Youth Islamic Movement have released a fresh report that details a multi-pronged operation that they carried out in Mogadishu, with some attacks in the Bakara market that mainstream media claims is “returning to normal” and also in the city of Afgooye.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has extended the deadline for the 23 Koreans it is holding for another 24 hours as talks are underway to meet their demands to release Taliban prisoners in exchange while their Mujahideen carried out various attacks including destroying two US supply vehicles.