1. Jet fault

    An electrical fault sent smoke into the cockpit* of a Qantas Boeing 747 and forced pilots to turn back on Monday in the latest in a string of problems for the airline since an engine explosion on a superjumbo* prompted a global safety scare.

    The airline said a Boeing 747 carrying 221 passengers and crew was an hour into a flight from Sydney for Buenos Aires, Argentina, when smoke started coming from an instrument panel* in the cockpit. Pilots donned* oxygen masks and turned the plane around, dumping fuel over the Pacific Ocean before making a “priority landing” in Sydney.

    2. Mexico hotel blast

    A powerful explosion likely caused by an accumulation* of gas killed 7 people on Sunday, including five Canadian tourists, at a large resort* hotel on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, authorities said.

    Two Mexican employees of the Grand Riviera Princess hotel in Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun, were killed in the blast.

    3. French PM

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy reappointed his trusted ally* Francois Fillon as France’s prime minister on Sunday, seeking to shore up* his position 18 months before the next parliamentary election.

    Fillon said in a separate statement he planned to enter a new period of government with determination, on the back of the reforms carried out since he first became prime minister at the start of Sarkozy’s term in 2007.

    4. U.K. couple freed

    A British couple kidnapped from their private yacht by Somali pirates more than a year ago were set free on Sunday.

    Paul and Rachel Chandler looked relaxed and smiled through a small ceremony held in the Somali town of Adado after their morning release. The couple took early retirement about four years ago and were spending six-month spells at sea.

    5. Karzai warns U.S. military

    Afghan President Hamid Karzai has warned that the U.S. military must scale back operations and reduce “intrusiveness*” into Afghan life or risk fueling the Taliban insurgency*. The comments, which appeared to contravene* the U.S. military’s counter-insurgency strategy, were met with dismay from U.S. lawmakers.

    6. Myanmar leader freed

    Myanmar democracy* leader Aung San Suu Kyi, freed from seven years of house arrest*, told thousands of wildly cheering supporters on Sunday that she would continue to fight for human rights and the rule of law in the nation. She called for face-to-face talks with the junta’s* leader.

    In 1989, she was detained on national security charges and put under house arrest.

    7. Iraq PM

    Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will return to power for another four-year term after Iraqi lawmakers working late into the night last Wednesday agreed on a tentative* deal to form a new government.

    The deal breaks an eight-month impasse* that paralyzed the government, encouraged insurgent attacks and rattled* potential foreign investors.

    (SD-Agencies)