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Lawyers in Pakistan led demonstrations today in protest of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's attempts to sack the country's chief justice of the Supreme Court. The protests increasingly include political opponents of Musharraf and Pakistan's Islamist fundamentalists.

Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister ousted by Pervez Musharraf, plans to fly home on Monday to campaign for an end to the general's rule. But Musharraf's biggest problem seems to be Pakistan's Supreme Court, not Sharif.

Doctor and civil rights activist Binayak Sen has been imprisoned for a year in an area of India known as the epicenter of the country's Maoist insurgency. He's being held under draconian anti-terrorism laws; his supporters say the charges are nonsense. Some 22 Nobel laureates are appealing for his release.

Pakistani officials are trying to arrange a peace deal with tribal elders in northwest Pakistan. Previous attempts have failed, but there is optimism this time because a Pashtun nationalist party, the ANP, is involved in the negotiations.

Five bomb blasts ripped through markets and other crowded areas Tuesday in Jaipur in western India. The first explosion hit near a temple packed with worshippers, killing dozens of people.

The Olympic torch has reached the top of Mount Everest, the climax of a massive publicity campaign leading up the Olympic Games. China hopes the spectacle of the flame atop the world's highest mountain will erase the memory of ugly protests. But some activists say that by taking the flame up Everst, China is trying to show its dominance over Tibetans.

Pakistan's National Assembly elected a new prime minister Monday. Yousaf Raza Gilani is the official head of a coalition government, dominated by the two parties that swept last month's elections and packed with outspoken opponents of President Pervez Musharraf.

Last month, the two main parties in Pakistan's new coalition government agreed to introduce a parliamentary resolution reinstating the senior judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf within 30 days of forming a government. Musharraf's enemies say once the judges are back, they'll declare his recent re-election as president as illegal. Wednesday is the deadline to reinstate the judges.

Militants in northwest Pakistan launched suicide attacks and bombings over the weekend in an area where Islamist militancy has been growing steadily. The attacks followed calls from extremists to avenge the government's storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

The Pakistani government and elders of a militant tribe on the border of Afghanistan are negotiating a pact that would expel foreign members of al-Qaida, but not home-grown members of the Taliban. The hope is to rein in domestic attacks organized by Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.