Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has been appointed the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis with a mandate to bring an end to the violence and promote a peaceful political solution.

The kidnappers of Irish aid worker Sharon Commins are reportedly demanding a $2m (€1.43m) ransom for the release of the Dubliner and her Ugandan colleague, Hilda Kiwuki.

Nato nations were today expected to approve plans drawn up by the military to use alliance ships and aircraft to rush European aid to US regions hit by Hurricane Katrina.

SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO, the top UN envoy on Iraq who was killed in a bomb blast yesterday, was a tough but debonair Brazilian who had been dispatched on some of the world body's most difficult missions.