UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo troops raped and pillaged in Minova after fleeing to the eastern town as M23 rebels advanced, while insurgents killed civilians and looted when they took the nearby provincial capital Goma last month, the U.N. said on Friday.

Congolese troops, aided by a U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO, have been battling the M23 rebels – who U.N. experts and Congo say are backed by neighboring Rwanda – for the past eight months in the resource-rich east of the country.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The African Union appealed on Wednesday for U.N. funding for a military operation to combat Islamist extremists in northern Mali after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon cautiously recommended the Security Council approve the force without U.N. financing.

Mali descended into chaos in March when soldiers toppled the president, leaving a power vacuum that enabled Tuareg rebels to seize two-thirds of the country. But Islamist extremists, some allied with al Qaeda, have hijacked the revolt.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long overdue “birth certificate.”

The U.N. victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the United States and Israel, which were joined by only a handful of countries in voting against the move to upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s observer status at the United Nations to “non-member state” from “entity,” like the Vatican.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The 20-month conflict in
Syria has reached “new and appalling heights of brutality and
violence” as the government steps up its shelling and air
strikes and rebels boost their attacks, U.N. Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.

Ban and international Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi
addressed the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on the revolt
against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, which began as
peaceful rallies calling for democracy but grew to an armed
struggle after the military cracked down on protesters.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The 193-nation U.N.
General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the de
facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine after
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to
issue its long overdue “birth certificate.”

The U.N. victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic
setback for the United States and Israel, which were joined by
only a handful of countries in voting against the move to
upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s observer status at the
United Nations to “non-member state” from “entity,” like the
Vatican.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Cocaine trafficking through drug hub Guinea Bissau is spreading unabated amid turmoil sparked by an April military coup that has slashed the West African country’s key cashew crop and almost halved its economic growth, the United Nations said.

The coup has set back Western efforts to combat drug cartels using Guinea Bissau, which has become a major transshipment point for Latin American cocaine headed to Europe. The United States and others have said army officials are implicated in the trade.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – International Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Thursday he could not move forward with a peace plan unless it was backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution and he warned that a ceasefire would only hold if it was overseen by a peacekeeping mission.

A peaceful solution to the 20-month conflict could only be initiated by the Security Council, Brahimi told the 15-member body, which has been deadlocked on whether to take stronger action against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday recommended that the Security Council approve an African Union peace enforcement mission be deployed to combat Islamist extremists in northern Mali, but did not offer financial support from the world body.

Diplomats and U.N. officials say that peace enforcement missions allow the use of lethal force in serious combat situations, while peacekeeping operations are intended to support and monitor an already existing ceasefire.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighboring Rwanda on Wednesday of supporting a rebellion in the country’s east to prevent the arrest of former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The eight-month-old insurgency in a resource-rich Congolese province by M23 rebels was partly triggered by President Joseph Kabila’s plan to arrest Ntaganda on international charges of enlisting child soldiers, murder, ethnic persecution and rape.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Palestinians will not rush to sign up to the International Criminal Court if they win a U.N. status upgrade on Thursday, but warned that seeking action against Israel in the court would remain an option, said the Palestinian U.N. observer.

The Palestinians appear certain to earn approval in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly for a status upgrade to “observer state” – similar to the Vatican’s rank – from observer “entity.” The move would implicitly recognize Palestinian statehood.