AP - Spanish actor Antonio Banderas has been named a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for the fight against poverty, the United Nations Development Program announced Wednesday.

AFP - Nearly a quarter of a billion people escaped slums in the past decade, but the housing effort was outstripped by population growth and rural exodus to the cities, the United Nations said.

AP - Opposition grew Wednesday against a proposal to ban the export of Atlantic bluefin tuna, with several Arab countries joining Japan in arguing it would hurt poor fishing nations and wasn't scientifically justified.

Reuters - Members of the U.N. Security Council want an outside investigation of charges of widespread diversion of U.N. aid to radical Islamist rebels in Somalia, Mexico's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.

Reuters - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday criticized Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for releasing information about what Ban said was a confidential telephone call between the two men.

Reuters - The new United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan praised President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday for revoking a decree that barred foreign observers from a U.N.-backed electoral watchdog.

AP - North Korea should let farms produce freely and allow food to be sold in local markets because the communist government cannot provide enough food for its people, a U.N. human rights investigator urged Monday.

Reuters - Human rights in North Korea have worsened over the last few years and it is time for the United Nations Security Council to protect the people who are mistreated by their own government, a U.N. envoy said on Monday.

AP - United Nations explosives experts have blown up several Israeli white phosphorous shells as they try to rid Gaza of munitions left behind in last year's war.

AFP - Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on a visit to China Monday that the veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council were on the same page on how to tackle Iran.

AP - It was hard to tell who was more impressed when film star Meryl Streep presented a leadership award to Ingrid Betancourt, the former Colombian presidential candidate who endured years of captivity in jungle camps.

AP - A U.N. meeting to assess progress in advancing the fight for women's equality that ended Friday had a dramatically different slant than a similar session held five years ago: This time, the United States was not trying to make an anti-abortion declaration a crucial theme.

AFP - The United Arab Emirates will respect any sanctions imposed by the United Nations on key trading partner Iran, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said on Saturday.

Reuters - There is consensus within the European Union for unilateral sanctions on Iran if a U.N. Security Council resolution fails, Finland's foreign minister said Saturday.

AP - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is heading to Haiti on Sunday for his second visit since the devastating earthquake to prepare for the upcoming donors conference to raise money for reconstruction.