World Briefs

REYKJAVIK – Iceland's ruling coalition collapsed on Monday under the pressures of the country's financial meltdown, the first government to fall as a direct result of the global economic crisis.

Prime Minister Geir Haarde said he would hand in his resignation to President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson after talks to save his government failed.

Developments on Monday were uncertain with all political parties jockeying for position to replace Haarde's coalition.

"I really regret that we could not continue with this coalition. I believe that that would have been the best result," he told reporters at parliament. Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir, the Social Democrat leader, announced she would not seek to be prime minister and would take a leave of absence for one or two months.

LONDON – Two of Britain's major broadcasters, the BBC and Sky, faced down broad popular criticism on Monday and refused to air a charity appeal for the victims of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Thirteen of Britain's main charities, who together constitute the Disasters Emergency Committee, have asked broadcasters to air an appeal during primetime on Monday seeking donations for Palestinians affected by the conflict.

But the BBC and Sky, which have 24-hour news channels watched in the Middle East and have closely followed Israel's three-week war in which 1,300 Palestinians were killed, say they will not air the appeal for fear of being seen to take sides. "Our commitment as journalists is to cover all sides of that story with uncompromising objectivity," John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said in a statement on Monday. The company decided not to broadcast it.

BORDEAUX, France – Weather forecasters warned of flooding and more gales Monday after hurricane-force winds killed 26 people across southern Europe and left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

The storm caused several hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to homes, farms, businesses and infrastructure in France alone, insurance companies said. As families buried four children killed when a sports hall collapsed in northeastern Spain, the French prime minister called a crisis meeting for a briefing on recovery efforts under way in the country's southwest.

The death toll continued to rise as a 70-year-old woman was reported dead of hypothermia after fleeing her home near Bordeaux after tiles were blown off her roof by winds that in places reached 180 kilometers an hour. Local authorities declared a state of alert because of the risk of flooding in eight departments of southwestern France.