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KIEV (Reuters) - NATO's secretary general, visiting Ukraine to bolster thin public support for joining the Alliance, said on Monday that membership would in no way oblige the country to host foreign bases or send soldiers off to war.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's ruling AK Party submitted on Monday its defense in court against charges it is seeking to turn the predominantly Muslim but secular country into an Islamic state.

CAIRO (Reuters) - A boat carrying 150 African migrants en route to Europe sank off the Libyan coast and the Libyan authorities have recovered one survivor and 21 bodies, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said on Monday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's trade with Iran at a time world powers are trying to convince it to give up its nuclear ambitions is sending the wrong signal to Tehran, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

AMARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's security forces tightened their grip on the southern city of Amara on Monday and appealed to Shi'ite militias to hand over heavy weapons before a government deadline for launching a crackdown.

FLINT, Michigan (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday he plans to visit Iraq and Afghanistan before November's election and was encouraged by a recent reduction in violence in Iraq.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel sought on Monday to lower U.S. expectations for any deal with the Palestinians this year, brushing aside pressure over settlements and calling for decisions on Jerusalem's future to be deferred.

LONDON (Reuters) - Protests against surging fuel prices which have triggered fears of political instability and a global economic downturn expanded in Europe and Asia on Monday, and Colombian truckers said they would join the wave of strikes.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai's threat of a cross-border pursuit of militants is more of a tactic to build pressure on Pakistan than a signal of real intent, analysts said on Monday.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe threatened on Monday to arrest opposition leaders over election campaign violence for which his opponents blame ruling party supporters.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police have launched a more extensive crackdown on "social corruption" such as women flouting Islamic dress codes, the Farhang-e Ashti newspaper reported on Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush won Britain's backing on Monday for tighter sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and secured a British pledge to send more troops to Afghanistan.

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers closed ranks on Monday to insist the EU reform treaty was still alive despite Ireland's "No" vote, but conceded they had no quick solutions to rescue it.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian taxi driver convicted of terrorism charges in 2006 but later set free after an appeal was ordered on Monday to face a fresh terrorism trial.

URUMQI, China (Reuters) - Authorities in China's troubled far-western region of Xinjiang are telling people who want to watch the Olympic torch as it passes through the area to stay at home and tune into the television instead.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Britain has warned its nationals traveling to the United Arab Emirates of a "high threat from terrorism", raising its alert for the Gulf Arab trade hub that is home to large community of British expatriates.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean construction workers joined striking truckers on Monday in the latest blow to new President Lee Myung-bak, whose repeated policy stumbles have seen his popularity plunge after less than four months in office.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli envoys holding a new round of indirect peace talks with Syrian counterparts in Turkey will propose that the two leaders meet at a Paris conference next month, Israeli political sources said on Monday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The death toll in a powerful earthquake that hit northern Japan at the weekend rose to 10 on Monday as troops and rescue workers searched for survivors in the remote, mountainous area worst hit by the tremor.

COLOMBO (Reuters) - At least 12 people were killed and 22 injured in a suspected Tamil Tiger rebel suicide blast in northern Sri Lanka on Monday, the military said.