India's navy chief said Monday that Beijing's growing maritime strength was a "major, major cause for concern" and pledged to help a state energy firm in its contentious search for oil in the South China Sea.

Admiral D.K. Joshi told journalists that China's push to upgrade its navy was "truly impressive" and said that India had to adapt its own strategy accordingly.

Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region said on Friday that talks on reducing tensions with the federal government have stalled over the contentious issue of a newly-established northern military command.

Talks between federal and Kurdish security officials reached an impasse over Baghdad's refusal to scrap the Tigris Operations Command, which was "the basic requirement emphasized by the leadership of Kurdistan for normalizing the situation," a statement on the Kurdistan government's website said.

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, west Africa's chief mediator for the crisis in Mali, will hold his first joint meeting Tuesday with delegations from the Malian government and armed groups Ansar Dine and the MNLA, his office said.

"The president will receive all the delegations together tomorrow at 4:00 pm (1600 GMT)," the presidency said Monday, after Compaore met representatives from Mali's transitional government.

The Phalange party said on Monday that adopting PSP leader Walid Jumblat's initiative can save Lebanon from the political crisis it is going through at present, explaining that agreeing on a new government can help the country have a peaceful transition to the elections phase.

"This cabinet is unable to manage the country's affairs and is only buying time awaiting the revelation of regional developments,”the Phalange's statement said after the political bureau's weekly meeting which was presided over by the leader of the party, former president Amin Gemayel.

The United Nations on Monday suspended operations in Syria and starting withdrawing non-essential staff because of the growing danger from the country's civil war, the U.N. spokesman said.

The United Nations will "suspend its missions within the country until further notice," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday warned Turkey that the NATO deployment of Patriot missiles along its border with Syria could exacerbate tensions.

He met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an Istanbul summit that failed to yield a common response to Syria's conflict.

At least five people, including two women, were killed when a bomb targeting an army vehicle exploded in southern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said.

The remote-controlled bomb was placed on a motorcycle and hit an Afghan army patrol truck as it was passing in Trin Kot the capital of Uruzgan province.

Britain's interior ministry said on Monday that it has applied for permission to appeal against a decision by judges to block the extradition of terror suspect Abu Qatada to Jordan.

"We confirm that we have submitted our grounds for appeal," a Home Office spokesman told Agence France Presse.

Israel's decision to build new homes between east Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim settlement is controversial plan which, if enacted, would cut the West Bank in half and threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state.

The decision, which was taken last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, relates to construction in a corridor of land in the West Bank which runs between the easternmost edge of annexed east Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim -- which is known as East 1, or E1 for short.

French President Francois Hollande said Monday he was worried by Israel's plans to build new settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, but indicated Paris was not ready to back concerted punishment in response.

"We do not want to start thinking in terms of sanctions," Hollande said during a Franco-Italian summit in Lyon.