A former president of the UN General Assembly has been arrested and charged with accepting over $1m in bribes from a billionaire Chinese property mogul and other businesspeople to pave the way for lucrative investments.

The United Nations General Assembly is to hold an informal meeting to hear briefings by senior officials on the war in Gaza.

POLICE fired pepper spray and beat protesters with batons outside the UN climate conference yesterday, as disputes inside left major issues unresolved just a day before world leaders hope to sign a historic agreement to fight global warming.

Baton-wielding riot police clashed with hundreds of demonstrators who tried to storm the Copenhagen climate conference today.

THE contentious rich versus poor fight over globalisation plagued the UN summit yesterday as negotiators squabbled over water.