Brussels  - Just four days before NATO leaders were due to gather for a summit, there was still no consensus on who should be the alliance's next chief, diplomats in Brussels said Monday.

"There is a lot of talk going on now about choosing a successor" to the current secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, but there "is no consensus yet," senior US officials said.

London - Mexican President Felipe Calderon was given a full military welcome, accompanied by pomp and pageantry, during his reception by Queen Elizabeth II for a state visit to Britain Monday.

The queen, 82, greeted the Mexican leader and his wife, Margarita Zavala, in bright sunshine at the historic Horseguards Parade ground at the start of the visit during which Calderon will take part in the Group of 20 (G20) summit meeting.

The couple will be guests of the queen and stay at Buckingham Palace for the duration of their visit.

Doha  - Leaders gathered for an Arab League summit in Qatar on Monday were unanimous in their appeals for Arab unity, but that message was almost lost amid high-profile disputes between member states and the sensational appearance of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir despite an international warrant for his arrest.

Sudan confirmed al-Bashir's attendance at Monday's summit only hours after judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity on March 4.

Dhaka - The government of Bangladesh on Monday asked Myanmar to clarify a planned border fence along the no-man's land along the two countries' shared border, officials said.

"We asked for an official version of the construction site of the fencing as Myanmar has given various versions of the location of fencing," Bangladeshi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hasan Mahmud told a press conference.

Prague  - Israeli President Shimon Peres after a meeting with Czech President Vaclav Klaus in Prague on Monday said he was hopeful for a successful conclusion to peace talks with the Palestinians this year.

Peres added that he expected "definite advances" in Israel's relations with its Arab neighbours.

Klaus stressed that politics was not about ideology but compromise.

Ankara  - Six people were killed and around 100 injured as a number of clashes broke out during Turkey during Sunday's local elections, the CNN-Turk news channel reported.

Fighting was reported at a number of polling booths in eastern and south-eastern Turkey with two deaths reported in Diyarbakir and one each in Sanliurfa, Kayseri, Van and Kars.