Cairo  - The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Tuesday called for an increase in development assistance to poor countries of at least 50 billion US dollars annually.

In a briefing in Cairo ahead of UNCTAD's 2008 trade and development report, officials said an increase in assistance is important for raising production capacities and achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals, which are focused on halving poverty worldwide by 2015.

London, Aug. 10 : British Foreign Secretary David Miliband''s attempt to project himself as the rightful successor to incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown has hit a roadblock of sorts, with UK''s Minister of State for Schools, Jim Knight, becoming the first member of the government to criticize him publicly.

Nicosia - The new UN envoy to Cyprus said Tuesday he was encouraged that both leaders of the divided island were determined to find a solution to their decades-old conflict.

Former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer told journalists that prospects for a solution to the Cyprus conflict were never as positive.

He was encouraged by the determination of both Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to find a mutually-acceptable solution.

Bonn - A UN conference on biosafety reached a preliminary agreement Friday on liability for

Bonn  - A UN conference on risks relating to genetic engineering in a