THE United Nations says many Somali children are arriving at refugee camps in neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia in such weak shape that they are dying within 24 hours despite emergency care and feeding.

Up to one million people have fled their homes in the Ivory Coast capital Abidjan fearful that post-election unrest will explode into all-out war, the UN refugee agency says.

The torrent of refugees fleeing Libya has suddenly slowed, UN officials say.

PAKISTAN battled to contain flooding in its rich agricultural south yesterday, evacuating half a million people from risk areas as the UN warned of the “daunting” scale of the crisis.

The UN refugee agency today said it is braced for a mass flight to neighbouring countries by civilians seeking to escape violence in Somalia.

The chief United Nations nuclear inspector said his agency’s Syria probe had been hampered because key satellite images of an alleged nuclear reactor bombed by Israel were inexplicably unavailable on the market.

Three people have been arrested for trying to sell 1kg of an unspecified radioactive material for €700,000, police in Slovakia said tonight.

IRAN has invited an International Atomic Energy Agency team to Tehran to work on clearing up suspicions about its nuclear programme, an IAEA spokeswoman said yesterday.

Iran has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to Tehran to draw up a concrete plan for clearing up suspicions about its nuclear programme, an IAEA spokeswoman said today.

The chief UN nuclear negotiator was unable to meet North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator today due to scheduling problems.

Iran says it needs time to review a plan proposed by the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency in which it will hold off on imposing sanctions if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment.

Republic of Georgia authorities, helped by the CIA, set up a sting operation that led to the arrest of Russian who tried to sell nuclear-bomb grade uranium in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket, a government minister revealed today.

THE UN nuclear watchdog agency said yesterday it was seriously concerned over Iran's resumption of uranium conversion but fell short of reporting it to the UN Security Council.

The UN nuclear watchdog agency’s 35-nation board adopted a resolution Thursday expressing “serious concern” over Iran’s decision this week to resume uranium conversion – a process that some fear could be used to help build a bomb.

Diplomats at the UN nuclear watchdog agency were debating a draft resolution today that expressed “serious concern” over Iran’s resumption of uranium conversion but left open the possibility of more talks on the crisis.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog is scrambling for solutions to the Iran crisis as Tehran prepares to break agency seals today and resume further work at one of its atomic facilities.

THE UN nuclear watchdog agency held an emergency meeting yesterday to assess Iran's resumption of uranium conversion.

Iran pushed back plans to restart some nuclear activities today after calls from the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog agency to wait until a monitoring system is in place.

Several hundred tons of conventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that once played a key role in Saddam Hussein’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the UN nuclear watchdog said today.

Several hundred tons of conventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that once played a key role in Saddam Hussein’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed today.

Iran again vowed to continue enriching uranium, in a potential setback to a European plan to ease the nuclear standoff with Tehran by offering sales of nuclear fuel and a trade deal as incentives.

The US has said that it will conduct “a full investigation” along with the Iraqi government of the reported disappearance from Iraq’s nuclear facilities of high-precision equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

IRAN began processing uranium more than a week ago to prepare it for enrichment - a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons - in defiance of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

The United States accused Iran of trying to make nuclear weapons in harsh comments at a key UN atomic agency meeting today.

IRAN said yesterday that nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei would visit Tehran for talks on Thursday, just two weeks before a deadline for Iran to dispel US-led doubts about its nuclear ambitions expires.

Iraq today invited chief UN weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to visit Baghdad at the “earliest suitable date” to speed up joint cooperation on outstanding disarmament issues, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A TOP South Korean official yesterday said he does not believe North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, contradicting US assertions that the communist nation has one or two atomic bombs.

The chief UN weapons inspectors will return to Baghdad on February 8 for last-minute talks before their next Security Council report on the hunt for banned weapons in Iraq, Iraqi and UN officials said today.

AS the world waits for UN weapons inspectors to report to the Security Council today, the United States said it was willing to go it alone to topple Saddam Hussein.

THE United States said yesterday it was ready to tell North Korea it has no intention of attacking the reclusive state, which had fired off volleys of abuse, demanding to meet Washington over the nuclear crisis.

Analyses of samples taken by UN inspectors in Iraq have so far not revealed any evidence of prohibited nuclear activity, a spokeswoman for the UN nuclear agency said today.

THE UN nuclear agency decided yesterday against reporting North Korea’s defiance to the Security Council, giving the isolated communist country another chance to abandon its covert weapons programme and readmit inspectors.

NORTH KOREA yesterday accused the United States of planning an invasion and vowed to fight "to the last man," hours after it expelled two UN monitors, leaving its feared nuclear program shrouded in secrecy.

UN nuclear inspectors in North Korea are preparing to leave, the UN nuclear agency confirmed today, denouncing the reclusive nation as “a country in defiance of its international obligations”.

IRAQ'S nuclear arms dossier appears to echo Saddam Hussein's claims that his country poses no atomic threat, but only an exhaustive analysis and new inspections can judge whether the declaration is truthful, the UN nuclear agency said yesterday.

Iraq’s nuclear arms dossier appears to echo Saddam Hussein’s claims that his country poses no atomic threat, but only an exhaustive analysis and new inspections can judge whether the declaration is truthful, the UN nuclear agency said today.

THE first team of UN inspectors landed in Iraq yesterday to resume the hunt for chemical, biological and/or nuclear arms programmes.

The agency charged with carrying out the inspections of Saddam Hussein’s weapons arsenal plans to deploy its experts to Baghdad in 10 days, a spokeswoman said today.

UN weapons inspectors insisted on the right to roam freely around Saddam Hussein’s palaces and other suspect sites as they opened talks yesterday with the Iraqis on logistics for a possible return to Baghdad.

UN weapons inspectors insisted on the right to roam freely around Saddam Hussein’s palaces and other suspect sites as they opened talks today with the Iraqis on logistics for a possible return to Baghdad.

Staking out a tough position, UN weapons inspectors today opened talks with Iraq over a return to Baghdad by holding Saddam Hussein to his pledge of unfettered access to suspect sites.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday he was confident of securing agreement on a new United Nations resolution on Iraq as international weapons inspectors prepared for talks on returning to Baghdad.

Tony Blair said today he was “confident” of securing agreement on a new United Nations resolution on Iraq as international weapons inspectors prepared for talks on returning to Baghdad.