Washington - As US President George W Bush's eight years in office near the end, he plans to lunch with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday at the White House.
At the top of the agenda will be the future of the United Nations and remaining challenges such as UN reform, the Middle East, Burma, Somalia, and peacekeeping in Darfur, said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe in a statement.
New York - The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to spend the last hours of the year discussing the situation in the Gaza Strip.
The closed door meeting beginning at 6 pm (2300 GMT) came at the request of the Arab League, which had earlier urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting and take an immediate decision to halt the Israeli attacks on the Strip.
Cairo - Arab foreign ministers, at an emergency meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, appealed to the UN Security Council to halt Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
The meeting of the foreign ministers of the 22-nation Arab League took place as Israeli airstrikes continued for the fifth day against the Islamist Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip. The casualty toll in the densely populated salient has reached almost 390 dead, most of them militants, and 1,800 injured.
"We urge the Security Council not to fall under any pressure and take an immediate decision to stop the Israeli attacks on Gaza, " said Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa at the opening of the meeting.
New York - The diplomatic mediating group on the Middle East peace process on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire that would be "fully respected" by Israel and Hamas and called on both sides to allow humanitarian missions into the Gaza Strip.
The group, known as the quartet, said in a short statement issued at UN headquarters in New York that it will remain in touch to try to bring four days of fighting to an end.
It called on "all parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures to ensure the continuous provisions of humanitarian supplies."
It agreed "on the urgent need for Israelis and Palestinians to continue on the road to peace."
New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held Tuesday telephone conversations with other members of the quartet - the diplomatic mediating group on the Middle East peace process - on the situation in Gaza Strip, a UN spokeswoman said.
Ban talked to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and European Union's chief foreign affairs Javier Solana. He also talked to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and the quartet's envoy to the Middle East, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
New York - Some 81 governments have contributed 450 million dollars to the UN reserve fund for humanitarian assistance in 2008, reaching its target for the first time since the fund was established two years ago, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was created by the UN General Assembly to help people needing urgent assistance when hit by natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies. CERF has disbursed 1.1 billion dollars since 2006, drawing from 1.5 billion dollars contributed by more than 100 governments and private donors.
Washington - As US President George W Bush's eight years in office near the end, he plans to lunch with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday at the White House.
New York - The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to spend the last hours of the year discussing the situation in the Gaza Strip.
New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held Tuesday telephone conversations with other members of the quartet - the diplomatic mediating group on the Middle East peace process - on the situation in Gaza Strip, a UN spokeswoman said.
New York - Some 81 governments have contributed 450 million dollars to the UN reserve fund for humanitarian assistance in 2008, reaching its target for the first time since the fund was established two years ago, the United Nations said Tuesday.
