UNITED NATIONS

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Saturday that public debt in the advanced economies is set to increase significantly and reversing the rise would be a tremendous challenge.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Saturday that public debt in the advanced economies is set to increase significantly and reversing the rise would be a tremendous challenge.

Greece will launch a multi-billion dollar bond in the United States this month, selling itself for the first time as an emerging market as demand for its debt dwindles in Europe, the Financial Times reported.

Greece's government, concerned that the IMF would impose tough conditions in exchange for aid, wants to amend a deal struck at an EU summit last month to bypass an IMF financial contribution, senior government sources in Athens told Market News International.

Ireland's extensive support for its banks has been vital to maintaining financial stability, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, as ratings agencies praised decisions taken by the country's bad bank this week.

Iceland's economics minister said on Sunday he was hopeful that a review by the International Monetary Fund could be completed within weeks, potentially releasing crucial aid for the crisis-hit nation.

Iceland's economics minister said on Sunday he was hopeful that a review by the International Monetary Fund could be completed within weeks, potentially releasing key aid for the crisis-hit nation.

The leaders of Germany and France clinched agreement on a joint European-IMF financial safety net for debt-stricken Greece just before an EU summit on Thursday, the French president's office said.

The leaders of Germany and France clinched agreement on a joint European-IMF financial safety net for debt-stricken Greece just before an EU summit on Thursday, the French president's office said.

Combined support for Greece from the IMF and the European Union would be the best way to help the over-borrowed country deal with its debt crisis, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said on Sunday.

Developed countries with big budget deficits must start now to prepare public opinion for the belt-tightening that will be needed starting next year, the No. 2 official at the IMF said on Sunday.

The United Nations Ethics Committee has upheld complaints by a former employee of the U.N. Development Programme who said he suffered retaliation from the UNDP for alleging that its Somalia programme was corrupt.

U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer will step down to join a consultancy group as an adviser, he said on Thursday, two months after a Copenhagen summit failed to support a legally binding climate pact.

The United Nations vented frustration on Thursday at the lack of progress at the world's only multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, calling on its members to show more flexibility and get down to work.

Blocks from where U.S. and U.N. soldiers distribute sacks of rice to Haitian women in earthquake-shattered Port-au-Prince, street vendors are openly selling rice by the cup from bags stamped with U.S. flags.

The number of jobless worldwide this year is likely to remain around 2009's record levels, with unemployment edging higher in rich countries but stabilising or declining elsewhere, the International Labour Organisation said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon asked the Security Council on Monday to approve 3,500 more peacekeepers for Haiti -- a nearly 40 percent increase -- to help cope with the chaos that followed last week's earthquake.

U.N. aid agencies will launch an emergency appeal to raise for about $550 million to help survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday.

The United Nations said on Thursday at least 36 of its personnel were killed in this week's earthquake in Haiti, the worst loss of life the world body has ever suffered in a single incident.

Thousands of Haitians at home and abroad are trying to get in touch with each other through a website set up after the devastating earthquake, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.

Up to 200 international United Nations staff in Haiti, including peacekeepers, remain unaccounted for after its headquarters and other buildings collapsed in a devastating earthquake, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.