AFP - Australia's former conservative leader John Howard was Monday awarded the country's highest honour in the Queen's birthday awards list, in recognition of his services to the nation.

AFP - Bangladesh's emergency government announced Monday it was releasing former premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed, currently detained on corruption charges, so she can travel abroad for medical treatment.

AFP - Militants attacked an oil security vessel off the Nigerian coast early Monday and seized eight navy personnel, the military said.

AP - A suicide truck bomber who concealed his explosives under tanned animal hides struck a U.S. patrol base Sunday in northern Iraq, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding 18 other Americans, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

AFP - England captain Michael Vaughan cannot wait to have star all-rounder Andrew Flintoff back for the Test series with South Africa even if it creates a headache over who to drop.

AP - Iraq's prime minister pushed Iran's leaders to back off their fierce opposition to a proposed security pact with the U.S. on Sunday, promising that his country will not be a launching pad for any attack on them.

AP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday urged Colombian rebels to lay down their weapons, unilaterally free dozens of hostages and end a decades-long armed struggle.

AP - Rallying international aid for Afghanistan, first lady Laura Bush on Sunday showcased projects to better the lives of war-weary Afghans. Yet at each stop, an eerie reminder of the country's violent past was just a glance away.

AP - An additional 120 troops were sent Monday to help soldiers with explosives and anti-tank weapons blast rocks and mud slowing the drainage of a still-rising lake that threatened to flood more than 1 million people downstream.

AP - A man suspected of killing seven people in a knifing rampage foretold the mayhem in a series of messages posted on the Internet, including one just before the attack saying, "It's time," police and media reports said Monday.

AFP - Shahid Afridi and Wahab Riaz shared six wickets to script Pakistan's emphatic 70-run victory over Bangladesh in the opening match of a triangular one-day series here on Sunday.

AP - Ruling party militants prevented the opposition from holding a rally in a Harare suburb Sunday, while police attacked supporters in Bulawayo and stopped them from putting up election campaign posters, party officials said.

AP - For Miladis Bouza, the global food crisis arrived two decades ago. Now, her efforts to climb out of it could serve as a model for people around the world struggling to feed their families.