AFP - No action will be taken against Real Madrid following Manchester United's lodging of an official complaint over Real's pursuit of star player Cristiano Ronaldo, FIFA said on Monday.

AP - Farmer Zaw Naing was puzzled as he stared at the brand new, unassembled tilling machine — equipment not seen in most of Myanmar's rice belt before the deadly cyclone.

AP - Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr won't resist a military operation in the southern city of Amarah unless government forces commit human rights violations and arrest suspects without warrants, a senior official and member of the cleric's movement said Monday.

AP - Hundreds of Taliban fighters took over several villages in southern Afghanistan on Monday just outside the region's largest city, and NATO and Afghan forces were redeploying to meet the threat, officials said.

AP - European Union nations agreed Monday on the need for a new round of sanctions to discourage Iran from developing nuclear weapons, targeting the country's oil and gas sectors in what would be the strongest punishment yet.

AP - Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point. Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls rather than slaughter in the streets.

AFP - A joint north-south Sudanese force tasked with preventing a repeat of fighting in the disputed Abyei region will deploy a day later than planned, its commander said on Monday.

AP - Michael Norton — who spent nearly two decades covering Haiti's coups, rebellions and disasters for The Associated Press — died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 66.

AP - Israeli strikes in southern Gaza killed three Palestinian gunmen Monday and injured three others, militants said.

AFP - Scots are almost twice as likely to kill or commit suicide as people in England and Wales, researchers said Monday, blaming the higher death rates on alcohol and drug abuse.

AP - Israel's persistent building of Jewish homes on disputed land undermines the U.S.-backed attempt to write an Israeli-Palestinian peace draft this year and invites questions about Israel's motives, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.

AP - Followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will run candidates on other party tickets in upcoming Iraqi provincial elections, a top aide said Sunday, in an apparent bid to sidestep what they believe is a government campaign against their movement.