A group of French aid workers went on trial Monday on charges they tried to illegally bring 103 children from Chad to France for adoption, claiming they were orphans from Darfur.

Six aid workers with the Zoe's Ark non-governmental organization went on trial in Paris, though two of the leading suspects were to be tried in absentia after refusing to show up for the proceedings.

Democratic Republic of Congo troops entered the eastern mining hub of Goma Monday, two days after rebel M23 fighters ended an almost fortnight-long occupation in line with a regionally brokered deal.

The rebels' lightning capture of Goma last month -- eight months after they launched an uprising against Kinshasa -- had sparked fears of a wider war and major humanitarian crisis, and their withdrawal was widely welcomed.

China on Monday branded a U.S.-Japan security treaty "a product of the Cold War" after Washington reaffirmed its commitment to Japan in its territorial dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyus.

The amendment, attached to the National Defense Authorization Bill, noted that while the United States "takes no position" on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory, it "acknowledges the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands".

Two explosions Monday rocked two different Nigerian cities repeatedly hit by attacks blamed on Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, wounding at least four people, police and residents said.

The explosions occurred in Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria, and Maiduguri, the northeastern city at the heart of Boko Haram's insurgency.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Monday accepted the resignation of his close ally Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and the entire government, the presidency said.

The surprise move comes as a new parliament prepares to meet after October 28 legislative elections which raised new concerns about democratic standards under Yanukovych.

Bangladeshi garment workers clashed with police on Monday as some 10,000 protested over the deaths of 110 people in the country's worst clothing factory fire, with demonstrations entering a second week.

Industrial police deputy director Moktar Ali said a false rumor about another fire in a plant sparked the latest protests as workers gathered in the streets of Ashulia, a manufacturing hub of 500 plants outside the capital Dhaka.

A powerful typhoon barreled towards the Philippines Monday, prompting authorities to order the immediate evacuation of thousands of people from coastal and low-lying areas, officials said.

Typhoon Bopha, packing winds of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) an hour, is expected to hit a southern fishing village overnight, making it the strongest typhoon to slam the Philippines this year.

At least 20 leftist rebels were killed in Colombia after the military launched bombing strikes against their camp in Narino province, near the border with Ecuador, the army announced late Sunday.

The rebels belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest guerrilla group, according to General Leonardo Barrero, a local military commander.

U.S. intelligence agencies have significantly stepped up spying operations on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor prompted by concerns about the security of weapons-grade plutonium there, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the newspaper said the increased U.S. surveillance of Bushehr has been conducted in part by U.S. unmanned drones operating over the Gulf.

Tokyo has begun deploying a surface-to-air missile defense system and is putting its armed forces on standby ahead of a planned North Korean missile launch this month, reports and officials said Monday.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that a naval vessel carrying PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) ballistic missiles left a western Japan naval base on Monday, headed for the country's southern Okinawa island chain.