AP - Pakistan's ruling coalition collapsed Monday, torn apart by internal bickering just a week after Pervez Musharraf's ouster and underscoring fears that the government would be distracted from its fight against Islamic extremists.

AFP - Australia's gay capital Sydney came under attack from a rebel city councillor on Monday over its plans to create 'homophobia-free zones' in the heart of its bar and nightclub precinct.

Reuters - Malaysia's opposition alliance, which backs Anwar Ibrahim in his bid to return to parliament, said on Monday that some of its supporters had been removed from voter lists ahead of a crucial by-election.

AP - Tropical Storm Julio drenched the resort-studded southern Baja California peninsula with heavy rains Sunday as authorities evacuated more than 2,500 families living along riverbeds near the coast.

AP - Tens of thousands of Baghdad football fans cheered on their club in the top league's final game, the largest sports crowd the city has seen since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Reuters - Overconfidence was probably a factor in the incident that led to the deaths of 10 French soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan, the French commander in the region was quoted as saying on Monday.

AP - Pakistan banned the Taliban on Monday after the militants claimed responsibility for one of the country's worst-ever attacks and a string of other suicide bombings — a move likely to please the U.S. one week after close ally Pervez Musharraf was ousted from power.

AP - The pilot of a small plane carrying humanitarian workers called in engine trouble about 45 minutes before crashing in a field in eastern Guatemala, killing 10 people, including five Americans.

AP - A Russian general suggested that U.S. ships in the Black Sea loaded with humanitarian aid would worsen tensions already driven to a post-Cold War high by a short but intense war between Russia and Georgia.

AP - A passenger jet carrying 90 people, including a Kyrgyz high school sports team, crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday near the Kyrgyz capital, killing 65, government officials said.

AP - Nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners freed Monday by Israel walked into Palestinian-controlled territory to cheers and applause, just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive on her latest peace mission.

AFP - Investors were sitting on the sidelines as they waited for the world's largest mining company BHP Billiton to overcome regulatory hurdles in its hostile takeover of rival Rio Tinto, BHP said Sunday.