President Michel Suleiman slammed Israel on Sunday for its continued threats against Lebanon, urging the international community to pressure it to end its intimidation.

In a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency, Suleiman said: “The Israeli enemy continues to threaten Lebanon through its overflights in a new and grave violation of (U.N. Security Council) resolution 1701.”

Iran and world powers Saturday meet for a second and final day of a new round of talks aimed at breaking a decade-old deadlock over the Islamic state's disputed nuclear program, with time slowly running out on a solution.

The two sides held a tense day of negotiation in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Friday that ended with only an agreement to meet again.

There is no consensus on an international arms trade treaty, major weapons exporter China said Wednesday, after it abstained as the U.N. General Assembly passed the measure by 154 votes to three.

The only votes against the first treaty on the conventional arms trade were from Syria, North Korea and Iran.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday unanimously approved the first-ever "offensive" U.N. peacekeeping brigade to battle rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A council resolution gave the force of more than 2,500 troops orders to "neutralize" and "disarm" armed groups in the resource-rich east of the country, which has been gripped by conflict for more than two decades.

Russia on Wednesday called the Arab League's decision to award Syria's seat at the organization to the anti-regime National Coalition "illegal and indefensible".

"In terms of international law, the League's decision on Syria is illegal and indefensible because the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was and is the legitimate representative member-state at the United Nations," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Rebels in the Central African Republic fighting to topple President Francois Bozize seized control of the capital Bangui on Sunday, with the whereabouts of their archfoe unknown.

Fighters in the Seleka rebel coalition launched an assault on the riverside capital after the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal in the notoriously unstable former French colony -- ignoring a call for talks to avoid a "bloodbath".

U.S. officials involved in enforcing international sanctions against North Korea expressed optimism Friday that China was willing to cooperate to disrupt financing for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

"China is part of the solution and is working with us in a cooperative spirit," Dan Fried, the State Department's sanctions coordinator, told reporters.

The Philippines has asked the United Nations to provide more protection to its peacekeeping forces, Manila said Wednesday after announcing its troops would remain in the Golan Heights after a recent abduction.

The foreign department said the Philippines' permanent representative to the U.N. wrote to the U.N. Security Council to express Manila's "grave concern" over the March 6-9 detention of 21 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) held a ceremony on Tuesday at the mission headquarters to mark 35 years of its peacekeeping presence in southern Lebanon.

Representatives from the Lebanese armed and security forces, local mayors and community leaders attended the ceremony. Also in attendance were peacekeepers representing the 38 different national contingents that make up UNIFIL.

World powers gave Iran fresh details on a proposed deal aimed at ending international concern over Tehran's nuclear program during talks in Istanbul, the European Union said Tuesday.

At the talks on Monday, experts from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S. -- plus Germany "had technical discussions with Iran," said a brief statement from a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.