Thousands of North Korean propaganda leaflets fell Monday on a frontline South Korean island, warning of an attack on soldiers stationed there, a report said.

A South Korean marine unit based on Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea had collected the leaflets which were carried across the border, Yonhap news agency said.

Almost two million people are displaced in Darfur, the U.N.'s top official in Sudan said on Monday, giving a new figure for the region where violence has worsened this year.

"We estimate that the internally displaced people... are close to 1.9 million, and that there are 1.3 million non-IDP's who are severely affected and/or food insecure," Ali Al-Za'tari said in the capital of North Darfur state.

European Union foreign ministers on Monday reiterated the bloc's willingness to strike a historic partnership deal with Ukraine, but said the ball clearly was in Kiev's court.

"We of course want that Ukraine signs the association agreement, there is still some hope for that," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on arriving for talks in Brussels with his 27 EU counterparts.

China's Communist chief Xi Jinping has given the go-ahead for a corruption investigation into the former head of the country's internal security apparatus, the New York Times reported Monday.

Citing what it described as "sources with elite political ties", the paper said the decision to open the inquiry into Zhou Yongkang was made early this month.

Turkey on Monday signed a long-awaited deal with the European Union to repatriate those who enter the bloc illegally from its territory, in exchange for talks on visa-free travel for its citizens.

The EU has committed to ensuring visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in 2017 at the earliest in return for Turkey signing the agreement.

Aid groups in Afghanistan on Monday called for the government to ban election offices from schools and health clinics for next year's presidential vote, over fears they could be targeted by militants.

The Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development (ACBAR) said that many schools and clinics had been designated as voter registration centers and polling stations for the April poll to replace President Hamid Karzai.

Bangladesh police opened fire on bomb-throwing Islamist protesters on Monday as five more people died in clashes sparked by the execution of an Islamist leader for war crimes.

Police said trouble broke out in several places in the southeastern district of Satkhira over the hanging last week of Abdul Quader Molla, a top figure from the country's largest Islamist party.

A U.S. navy helicopter crashed near Tokyo Monday in a failed emergency landing, injuring two of the four men on board, rescuers said.

Television footage showed the gray helicopter on its side on what appeared to be vacant land, with mangled propelors and a snapped tail-end.

Washington called for a united front against North Korea after the "ominous" execution of leader Kim Jong-Un's uncle as South Korea put its forces on alert for any "provocations" from its nuclear-armed neighbor.

The warning came as thousands of North Korean troops marched in Pyongyang to pledge their loyalty to the young leader ahead of commemorations Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the death of Kim's father and longtime leader Kim Jong-Il.

South Sudan's president announced Monday he had defeated a coup attempt following a night of fierce fighting between rival troops in the capital of the world's youngest nation.

The clashes broke out in a barracks close to the city center shortly before midnight and spread across the city, diplomats and witnesses said, adding that heavy machine guns and mortars were used.