The European Union joined the United States on Monday in expressing concern about new Israeli settlement activity and urged Israel to stick to its commitments in Middle East peace efforts.

Lebanon’s presidential vote will be delayed again because rival factions are still haggling over ways to amend the constitution to allow the election of the army chief as the new president, political sources said on Monday.

At least 20 illegal migrants died when a boat carrying about 70 people sank off the Turkish Aegean coast on Saturday, authorities said on Monday.

Seven inmates in an Iraqi Interior Ministry jail were killed in a mortar attack in central Baghdad on Monday, an Iraqi security official said.

A rocket attack sparked a big fire at a domestic oil refinery in southern Baghdad on Monday but the plant was still operating, Iraqi police and officials said.

Kosovo Albanian leaders will immediately start talks with their Western backers on steps leading to a declaration of independence and subsequent international recognition, a senior official said on Monday.

Russia warned the West on Monday that recognizing a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) by Kosovo could set off a “chain reaction” of problems in the Balkans and beyond.

More NATO troops may be needed in Kosovo as the breakaway Serbian province moves towards independence, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday.

The clock starts ticking on Monday toward a probable declaration of independence by Kosovo after extra-time negotiations failed to break a deadlock over the future of the breakaway Serbian province.

European Union nations are overcoming their internal divisions over the future of Kosovo as it heads towards independence and will help shape its future, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday.