UNITED NATIONS: General Assembly Mulls Over UN Reform Package

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's proposed reforms for the United Nations should be viewed and approved as a unified package, rather than a separate series of measures, officials of the world body insist.

CONGO-RIGHTS: Kinshasa Denies UN Charges

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, insists that it supports U.N. investigations into human rights violations and has brushed aside complaints from the United Nations that its work is being hampered.

CONGO-UN: Annan Pulls Human Rights Investigators from Kinshasa

The United Nations, frustrated by repeated standoffs with the new government in Kinshasa, is recalling a human rights team dispatched five weeks ago to investigate allegations of massacres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

AFGHANISTAN-UN: Taliban Fights for UN Recognition

Afghanistan's Taliban militias control nearly 90 percent of their mountainous nation but continue to be frustrated the one prize that eludes them: recognition by all members of the United Nations.

LITERATURE: One Hundred Years of William Faulkner’s Magic World

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's memorable phrase for his mythic Latin American country's fate was 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' - but book lovers have marked a different anniversary - 100 years of magical realism.

MIDDLE EAST: Israelis/Palestinians Agree to Talks, Rifts Remain

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to resume wide-ranging peace discussions but rebuilding trust between the two sides remains difficult after preliminary talks here Monday.

US-POPULATION: Abortion Issue Snarls Payment of UN Dues

A new flare-up over the possibility that U.N. agencies may provide abortion services in refugee camps has snarled efforts to recover the hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the world body by the United States.

NATO-RUSSIA: Ministers Convene First Permanent Joint Council

Analysts are cautiously optimistic after Friday's first meeting of the Permanent Joint Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Russia - although little appears to have been accomplished in resolving security disputes between the two sides.

LIBYA-UN: Africa Urges Compromise in Libyan Sanctions Row

African nations took the lead in a special U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday in urging a compromise on the five-year-old United Nations embargo against Libya.

INDIA-PAKISTAN: Old Foes Meet but Mostly Disagree

The meeting this week between Prime Ministers Inder Kumar Gujral of India and Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan was remarkable for its relatively friendly tone and offer of a non- aggression pact - but did little to further peace between the two countries.

LIBYA-UN: Britain Attacks Arab League Decision on Libya

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Tuesday the decision by 22 Arab governments to relax adherence to a U.N. travel embargo against Libya was "unwise" and could damage Arab interests.

UN-LATAM: Battle for Security Council Seat Heats Up

Latin American nations have begun jockeying for position to fill a promised seat on the U.N. Security Council.

UNITED NATIONS-US: Clinton Fails to Impress General Assembly

U.S. President Bill Clinton has battled uphill in recent years trying to convince the U.N. General Assembly of Washington's good intentions worldwide - and his appearance Monday at the Assembly's plenary session proved no exception.

WOMEN: New UNFPA Envoy Aims to End Female Genital Mutilaion

When Waris Dirie was four years old, her parents came to her rom one night and told the frightened girl, "You have bad things between your legs, and they have to be removed."

UNITED STATES: Who Will Teach The Teachers About Muslims?

After the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, one California teacher came up with a fresh approach to further the words in the vocabulary of her seventh-grade students.

UNITED NATIONS-US: Surprise! You’ve Won One Billion Dollars!!

Maverick U.S. businessman Ted Turner's threw U.N. diplomats off guard this week with an offer to donate one billion dollars to the world body and sent analysts into a frenzy of speculation over the precedent his gift poses.

WOMEN-UN: New UNFPA Envoy Aims to End Female Genital Mutilation

When Waris Dirie was four-years- old, her parents came to her room one night and told the frightened girl, "You have bad things between your legs, and they have to be removed."

HAITI-UN: Call for UN to Develop Haitian Institutions

The United Nations should use its last few months of peace-keeping operations in Haiti to build up Haitian institutions so they can continue judicial, human rights and developmental work, say human rights activists.

CAMBODIA-UN: Stalemate Over Cambodian Recognition at UN

The chances for a swift resolution to Cambodia's government crisis by the United Nations dwindled Wednesday, with a key U.N. committee divided over whether to recognise Prince Norodom Ranariddh's royalists or Hun Sen's de facto regime.

UNITED NATIONS: Reforms, U.S. Arrears Dominate U.N. Agenda

The annual opening sessions of the U.N. General Assembly each September often have been a time of controversy and heated debate but this year's plenary promises to be one of the most fractious ever.

CULTURE-USA: Who Will Teach the Teachers about Muslims?

After the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, one California teacher came up with a fresh approach to further the words in the vocabulary of her seventh-grade students. She decided to teach them the verb "to bomb" by using it in the sentence, "Muslims bombed Oklahoma City because Allah told them to do so."