Asia

• Japanese activists swam to a disputed island as protests erupted across China over Japan's treatment of Chinese activists who had performed a similar act.

• Myanmar's Information Ministry announced the end of direct media censorship in the country.

• New Zealand's prime minister suggested that his government might withdraw troops from Afghanistan earlier than expected as U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey travels to Kabul for talks. 

Middle East

• Libyan authorities arrested 32 alleged supporters of former leader Muammar al-Qaddafi over a series of bombings in Tripoli that killed two people.

• The Sunni cleric Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaie was injured in a deadly bombing in Baghdad.

• A gunman killed nine people outside a mosque in southern Yemen a day after an attack on an intelligence headquarters in the southern city of Aden.

Europe

• In a speech from a balcony of Ecuador's embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange demanded that the United States end its "witch hunt" against his organization.

• A suicide bomber killed seven police officers in the Russian republic of Ingushetia. 

• Prince Philip was released from the hospital after receiving treatment for a bladder infection.  

Africa

• An airplane crash in Sudan killed 32 people, including a Sudanese cabinet minister.

• Some workers have returned to a South African platinum mine after clashes between miners and police left dozens of people dead. 

• Somalia will swear in its first formal parliament in more than two decades.

Americas

• South American foreign ministers expressed support for Ecuador over the "threat" posed to its London embassy, which is housing Julian Assange.

• Authorities in Mexico City replaced all the police officers at the capital's international airport after a deadly shooting.  

• Colombian officials blamed the destruction of an oil pipeline on FARC rebels.