AP - Iran's new conservative-dominated parliament convened Tuesday amid calls for unity in a country suffering from high inflation and U.N. Security Council sanctions over its refusal to curb its controversial nuclear program.

AFP - Egypt's Culture Minister Faruq Hosni, a candidate to head UNESCO but under fire from the Jewish state, said on Tuesday he "dreams" of normal ties with Israel once it has made peace with the Palestinians.

AFP - The United Nations said Monday that a group of human rights experts will visit Britain this month to discuss the growing use of mercenaries in global conflicts and their impact on human rights.

AP - U.N. officials expressed hope Monday they will soon be able to get help to more than 1 million cyclone survivors still waiting for food and shelter, if Myanmar's ruling junta keeps its promise to let foreign aid workers into the country.

Reuters - The United Nations said on Monday that a Russian air force plane shot down an unmanned Georgian spy drone over Abkhazia last month, strengthening Tbilisi's claims that Moscow is aiding the rebel territory.

AP - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon headed back to New York on Monday, saying he hoped Myanmar's military regime would honor its promise to open up cyclone-devastated areas of the country to foreign aid workers.

Reuters - Myanmar was promised nearly $50 million in cyclone aid on Sunday, but some Western donor countries said their cash was contingent on the junta keeping its word on letting in foreign aid workers and assessment teams.

Reuters - The United Nations and Myanmar's military government put a positive spin on differences over relief and rebuilding needs for millions of cyclone survivors at a pledging conference in Yangon on Sunday.

Reuters - There was "no time to lose" to help Myanmar's cyclone survivors after the secretive military government promised it would allow in more aid workers, disaster relief officials said on Saturday.

AP - Myanmar's ruling junta said Friday it will let foreign aid workers and commercial ships help survivors in the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta, but refused to relent on accepting aid from U.S., French and British military ships.

AFP - The number of roadblocks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has increased by 41 since September despite Israeli pledges to reduce them, the United Nations reported on Friday.