A car bomb killed 10 UN staff at the organisation’s refugee agency’s offices in Algiers today, a spokesman said.

A US congressional committee has drafted a Bill that threatens to withhold tens of millions of pounds from the United Nations unless the world body launches wide-ranging reforms, possibly setting the stage for a funding battle like the one that plunged the UN into financial crisis a decade ago.

Growing populations and expanding economic activity have strained the planet’s ecosystems over the past half century, a trend that threatens international efforts to combat poverty and disease, a UN-sponsored study of the Earth’s health has warned.