Reuters - The United Nations urged the world on Monday to back a global ban on cluster bombs, calling the munitions unreliable and indiscriminate.

AP - The U.S. military is holding about 500 juveniles in detention centers in Iraq, and has about 10 detained at the U.S. base at Bagram, Afghanistan, the United States has told the United Nations.

Reuters - The U.S. envoy to the United Nations on Monday welcomed the visit of a special U.N. human rights investigator to probe racism but said the Human Rights Council should focus on "real problems" elsewhere.

Reuters - Chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke, often associated with a Western lifestyle, have become the chief causes of death globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.

AP - The U.S. military is holding about 500 juveniles suspected of being "unlawful enemy combatants" in detention centers in Iraq and has about 10 detained in Afghanistan, the United States has told the United Nations.

Reuters - Pope Benedict on Sunday said he hoped a Dublin conference on cluster bombs will outlaw the deadly weapons by agreeing on a strong international convention.

AP - The official death toll nearly doubled to 78,000 from Myanmar's killer cyclone as heavy rains on Friday lashed much of the area stricken two weeks ago, further hampering relief efforts.

Reuters - A special U.N. human rights investigator will visit the United States this month to probe racism, an issue that has forced its way into the race to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Reuters - The United Nations sees renewed momentum for a global ban on cluster bombs as more than 100 nations -- but not the world's top users and stockpilers -- gather in Dublin to finalize an anti-cluster munitions treaty.

AP - France criticized Myanmar's military junta on Friday for refusing to allow a French Navy ship with 1,500 tons of aid for victims of Cyclone Nargis to deliver food and medicine with small boats and helicopters.

Reuters - Myanmar's military government said on Thursday its cyclone relief effort was moving along swiftly even as foreign powers warned of starvation and disease among up to 2.5 million people left destitute by the storm.

AFP - The UN said on Thursday it had airlifted more than 250 civilian staff from Sudan's flashpoint town of Abyei, where thousands of Sudanese are believed to have fled clashes in the contested oil region.