New York  - The UN Security Council on Monday extended for another year arrangements whereby revenues from Iraq's petroleum and other sources are deposited in a UN-monitored fund for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The Development Fund for Iraq was set up by the council in 2003 after the former government of President Saddam Hussein was toppled by a US-led military invasion in March of that year.

The fund is intended to use Iraq's natural resources for the benefit of its people.

New York  - The UN Security Council decided Monday to keep its large peacekeeping operation another year in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the main task of protecting civilians and improving security in the eastern part of the country.

The UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) is composed of more than 22,000 personnel, including 19,815 military troops, one of the largest UN peacekeeping forces in the world.

But MONUC is still dwarfed by the geographical size of Congo and the conflicts there. Its new mandate expires December 31, 2009.

New York  - The United Nations Security Council on Friday renewed the mandate of a group monitoring the 16-year-old arms embargo imposed on Somalia, saying piracy might increase access to a fresh arsenal of weapons.

A report by the monitoring group said there has been a steady demand for weapons and ammunition while security in Somalia has deteriorated. It said most weapons have come from commercial markets, particularly in Yemen, and sent to Somalia across the Gulf of Aden.

New York  - The United Nations on Friday said the number of deaths in Zimbabwe had increased as new outbreaks of cholera were reported in the capital Harare and other cities.

More than 20,800 people were infected and more than 1,100 deaths were reported since September, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in New York said.

Geneva  - Severe swelling of the Bismark and Solomon seas have displaced thousands in Papua New Guinea and many are in need of basic supplies like food and water, the United Nations said Friday.

The government and Papua New Guinea Red Cross estimated that over 75,000 people have been displaced and about half will need urgent help.

The floodings, which began on 8 December, hit hardest the offshore islands of Manus and New Ireland, but also affected the Western coastline of the main island.

Kathmandu  - The UN Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Friday called on the Nepalese government to investigate 170 cases of forced disappearances in a single district in the western part of the country during the communist insurgency.

OHCHR in a report said it had documented 170 cases of disappearances in Bardiya district, about 450 kilometres west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.