Gerard Aziakou

Pakistani authorities deliberately failed to properly investigate the 2007 murder of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, a UN-appointed independent panel said.

International donors pledged nearly $10-billion on Wednesday to help shell-shocked Haiti recover from January's devastating earthquake.

The UN General Assembly was expected on Friday to demand Israelis and Palestinians probe alleged war crimes during the Gaza conflict.

The UN Security Council has agreed on a watered-down statement expressing "serious concern" at the extended detention of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday toured Sri Lanka's largest war displaced persons camp, amid concerns for 300 000 Tamils left homeless.

A senior United Nations official on Friday warned that a reported proxy war between Sudan and Chad through rebel groups on each side of their border threatened to destabilise the region and could lead to a wider conflict. Jean-Marie Guehenno made the remarks to the Security Council as Sudan troops attacked communities in western Darfur.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously condemned the rebel attacks in Chad and urged world support for the embattled government as the insurgents threatened a new assault on the capital. A statement drafted by France, Chad's former colonial ruler, "strongly condemns these attacks and all attempts at destabilisation by force".

Key United Nations powers stepped up calls for Burma to release political prisoners after an envoy to the repressive state warned of ''serious international repercussions'' from the bloody turmoil there. The United States signalled on Friday it may push for UN sanctions if the ruling junta kept up a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Allies backed former British prime minister Tony Blair in his new role as Middle East peace envoy for the main global powers, but the Hamas movement poured scorn on the nomination. The diplomatic Quartet for the Middle East named Blair as their representative hours after he stood down as British prime minister on Wednesday.

South Africa pushed on Monday for a 90-day freeze of Iran's uranium enrichment in exchange for a simultaneous suspension of United Nations sanctions that the Security Council is looking to toughen. The 90-day, simultaneous suspension was contained in a series of South African amendments to a draft resolution agreed by six major powers last week.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon held crunch talks on Monday with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir where he urged him to cooperate with the deployment of a joint United Nations and African Union force for strife-torn Darfur. In 90 minutes of talks with Bashir, Ban detected a new level of cooperation after previous frustration at perceived foot-dragging by Khartoum.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday called for a ''good governance pact'' in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an address to the National Assembly at the start of a landmark visit to show support for President Joseph Kabila's young democracy.