Geneva  - There is no sure-fire way to predict an impending earthquake, David Alexander, a United Nations disaster expert said Tuesday.

"It's probable there will never be a foolproof, fail-safe means of predicting earthquakes over the short term," Alexander told the German Press Agency dpa by phone from Florence, Italy.

What scientists could predict was mainly which areas were prone to be struck by a quake in the medium- and long-term, meaning over years and centuries.

New York - The five veto-wielding powers and Japan continued wrestling Monday over Japan's insistence on a sharpened UN resolution against North Korea for testing a ballistic missile over the weekend.

The UN ambassadors from the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain held their second negotiating session with Japan since Sunday, when a three-hour session of the full Security Council ended with no results.

Islamabad  - A separatist group, which has been holding a United Nations official for the last two months in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, said Saturday it had freed the captive on "humanitarian grounds."

UN authorities in the capital city Islamabad confirmed the release to the German Press Agency dpa saying John Solecki was "tired, otherwise well."

Islamabad - A separatist group, which has been holding a United Nations official for the last two months in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, freed its captive Saturday on "humanitarian grounds," local media and police said.

UN authorities in the capital city Islamabad, however, did not immediately confirm the release.

John Solecki, the regional head of the UN refugee agency in Balochistan, was kidnapped by armed men when he was on his way to work in the provincial capital Quetta on February 2. His Pakistani driver was killed in the attack.

Islamabad - A separatist group, which has been holding a United Nations official for the last two months, said Saturday it has released its captive on "humanitarian grounds," a local media report said.

John Solecki, the regional head of the UN refugee agency in Balochistan, was seized by armed men after an ambush in Quetta, the capital of south-western Balochistan province, in February.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Wednesday the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, offering his cooperation to work for peace in the Middle East but also reminding him of the two-state solution backed by the international community.

Ban said he looks forward to working with Netanyahu "on the full range of peace and security issues in the region."