Geneva  - The United Nations Human Rights Council was unable to complete a special session Friday on the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and deferred making conclusions until it would reconvene Monday afternoon.

The African Group, represented by Egypt, tried to have the session closed, a move opposed by Western nations led by France who wanted the council to reach a clear decision, the stand ultimately adopted.

African delegates said the session was convened "hastily" and they did not have time to prepare.

Rio de Janeiro  - The use of the internet to spread child pornography and to find victims for the sex trade pose new challenges for governments, the head of UNICEF said at a global conference on child sexual exploitation.

"Parents and children must prepare themselves better for the risks of the internet," Ann Veneman, UNICEF executive director, said Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro.

New York  - The United Nations said Wednesday Kosovo's independence has propelled the body into assuming a political role to try to solve the sovereignty dispute between Kosovo and Serbia.

Serbia still claims Kosovo as its territory after Pristina declared independence in February, adopted a constitution in June and was recognized by a total of 52 governments, including the United States and many European nations.

The UN Mission in Kosovo, which began its work in 1999, is fast changing because Kosovo now is ruled by a government. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has ordered an accelerated reconfiguration of the mission so it can readjust to circumstances in the former Serb province.

New York  - Warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo have all carried out attacks against civilians in North Kivu, where fighting has raged for weeks between government and rebel troops, the UN said Wednesday.

The UN said that some 250,000 Congolese have been displaced by the fighting, some for the second or third time in a matter of weeks. It said that one in four inhabitants in the region has become a refugee inside the the DR Congo.

New York  - The UN General Assembly on Wednesday announced it would give its 2008 human rights awards posthumously to Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Dorothy Stang, a French Catholic nun.

Other winners are Louise Arbour of Canada, the former UN high commissioner for human rights; US lawyer Ramsey Clark; Carolyn Gomes of the Jamaicans For Justice group; and Denis Mukwege of Congo and the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2008 was announced by assembly president, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann. It is awarded every five years.

New York  - The World Jewish Congress on Wednesday lodged a rare protest to the UN General Assembly president for disparaging Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people.

Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann had likened Israel's policy toward the Palestinians to "the apartheid of an earlier era." He also called for punitive measures against the Jewish state, including divestment and sanctions.

D'Escoto Brockmann said this week on the international day to support the inalienable rights of the Palestinians that the biggest failure of the UN had been not to establish a Palestinian state after 60 years.

New York-based WJC President Ronald Lauder said the UN official's statement was "false and without basis."