AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Monday that a broad peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians is a long shot before President Bush leaves office, but she rejected the idea of a half-measure now.

AFP - Some 850,000 revellers packed the streets of west London over the weekend as masquerade floats entertained party-goers at the Notting Hill Carnival, Europe's biggest street festival.

AP - Russia's parliament voted unanimously Monday to urge the president to recognize the independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions, stoking further tensions between Moscow and the small Caucasus nation's Western allies.

AP - Zimbabwe's main opposition party won the top job in parliament Monday, scoring a surprise victory that could give President Robert Mugabe's foes leverage in power-sharing talks.

AP - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dug in his heels Monday on the future of the U.S. military in Iraq, insisting that all foreign soldiers leave the country by a specific date in 2011 and rejecting legal immunity for American troops.

AP - Iraqi police publicly questioned a teenage girl after she was allegedly caught wearing an explosives belt, parading her in front of reporters and pressing her to confess she was planning a suicide bombing.

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.