Nepal's chief judge was named head of an interim government Thursday in an attempt by the Himalayan country's main political parties to cure the paralysis and infighting that have blocked elections for months.

Opponents of a nearly US$1 billion copper mine in northwestern Myanmar expressed outrage Tuesday over a government-ordered report that said the project should continue and that refrained from demanding punishment for police involved in a violent crackdown on protesters.

Myanmar's government and Kachin rebels have agreed to continue talks to reach an elusive cease-fire during peace discussions hosted by China, the warring rivals said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Myanmar's government met Kachin rebels for renewed peace talks in China on Monday, an analyst said, as the rivals seek to resolve a festering ethnic conflict that has undermined reforms.

Islamic clerics announced the withdrawal of a halal labeling system for food in Sri Lanka on Monday “in the interests of peace” after protests from Buddhist hard-liners on the Indian Ocean island.

Aung San Suu Kyi was selected Sunday to remain head of Myanmar's main opposition party, keeping her leadership post even as the party undergoes a makeover to adjust to the country's new democratic framework.

Nepalese police arrested 11 people in Kathmandu on suspicion of “anti-China activities” on Sunday morning, the anniversary of the 1959 rebellion against China's rule in Tibet.

China's ambassador to Katmandu was recently pictured in a traditional Nepali cap and silk scarf, digging with a spade to symbolize the laying of the foundations of a new dry port near the Tibet border.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday called for her once-banned party to unify amid concerns that internal squabbles could undermine its push for power at historic polls in 2015.

Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition opened a historic conference on Friday seen as a key chance to revitalize the popular but inexperienced party, which faces major challenges ahead of elections in 2015.