Johannesburg - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday condemned the brutal slaying of a Somali family in South Africa and urged the government to take measures to protect foreigners from xenophobic attacks.

Sahra Omar Farah, her two teenage sons, one of whom was deaf and her 12-year-old daughter were stabbed to death on Friday in a frenzied attack at a small store run by fellow Somalis in rural Eastern Cape province.

New York  - The UN Security Council on Tuesday authorized the use of force to stop piracy against ships off Somalia, while the European Union is studying sending a military mission to assess the situation.

The council unanimously adopted a resolution submitted by France, the current EU president, to use the "necessary means ... for the repression of acts of piracy."

Rome - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday called for an urgent review worldwide of biofuel policies and subsidies to ensure they protect poor farmers and do not impact negatively on global food security.

"Biofuels present both opportunities and risks. The outcome would depend on the specific context of the country and the policies adopted," FAO Director General Jacques Diouf said in a statement released by the Rome-based agency.

"Current policies tend to favour producers in some developed countries over producers in most developing countries. The challenge is to reduce or manage the risks while sharing the opportunities more widely," Diouf added.

New York - The conflict involving Russian and Georgian troops over South Ossetia has remained unsettled, influencing the determination of the role of the UN military observer mission in the area, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

But he urged the council to extend the mandate of the small UN force until mid-February while discussion and arrangements would bring some clarity to the situation.

Kabul - The United Nations' top envoy to Afghanistan said on Monday that the country's conflict could not be won "militarily" and said that success is only possible through dialogues and "political means".

"We all know that we cannot win it militarily. It has to be won through political means. That means political engagement," Kai Eide, UN special envoy to Afghanistan, told a press conference in Kabul.

Lahore, Oct 6: The missile attacks by US-led forces in Pakistan’s tribal areas were a violation of human rights and the United Nations Charter, said the country’s Law Minister Farooq H. Naek.