The streets of Sri Lanka were alive with celebration on May 19: The leader of the rebel Tamil Tigers, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, was dead and the government had declared victory over the rebels and the end of the country's 25-year-old civil war.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, has a few critical words for the United States: In a Wall Street Journal column on April 29, he said, "The change of administration in the U.S. has slowed the flow of assistance to Pakistan. Unfortunately, ordinary Pakistanis have begun to wonder if our alliance with the West is bringing any benefits at all."

Sworn in as Israeli Prime Minister for the second time at the end of March, Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is known for his opposition to land-for-peace deals-a key component of U.S.-led negotiations. And his appointment of "ultra-nationalist" Avigdor Lieberman as Israeli Foreign Minister raised more than a few eyebrows: Lieberman last October told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to "go to hell" and campaigned to redraw Israeli borders to exclude Arab citizens.

News of widespread violence against Christians in India's Orissa state, like November's terrorist attack in Mumbai, shocked believers across the world: Dozens-perhaps hundreds-in Orissa have been slaughtered or burned to death for refusing to "reconvert" to Hinduism; 50,000 refugees have fled to the forests; hundreds of churches and homes have been destroyed; and the government has been relatively silent in what some are calling a pogrom against Christians in the predominantly Hindu country.