The U.N. Security Council on Thursday urged President Joseph Kabila to sign a military plan for a joint offensive with U.N. troops to drive out Hutu rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The 15-member council threatened to impose sanctions on supporters of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), who have ignored a January 2 deadline to surrender.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday observed a moment of silence in memory of the 12 people killed in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly in Paris.

The 15 envoys rose and the room fell silent after Chilean Ambassador Cristian Barros Melet expressed the council's "profound sadness over the intolerable attack that took place yesterday in Paris."

U.N. troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo are taking up positions to support a planned offensive against Hutu rebels in the east after they ignored a deadline to surrender, a U.N. spokesman said Monday.

The rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) were given until January 2 to give themselves up or face military action.

U.N. Security Council ambassadors will travel to Haiti later this month for a first-hand look at the political situation following a decision to draw down the U.N. mission there.

The visit from January 23 to 25 will be to assess prospects for stability in Haiti, which has been struggling since the fall of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, Chilean Ambassador Cristian Barros Melet said Monday. 

North Korea comes under scrutiny Monday at the U.N. Security Council in the first-ever meeting on its dismal rights record, amid calls for Pyongyang to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

Until now, the top U.N. body has focused on North Korea's nuclear program as a security threat, but the scope has widened to human rights following the release of a U.N. commission of inquiry report.

North Korea said Friday it will not send a representative to a U.N. Security Council meeting next week to discuss the country's human rights record and calls to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court.

The U.N. Security Council agreed on Wednesday to extend for a year cross-border deliveries of desperately-needed humanitarian aid to rebel-held areas in Syria.

North Korea has accused the U.S. of trying to topple the hermit state by targeting it with allegations of human rights abuses, and threatened to hit back with the "toughest-ever counteraction". 

The comments in state media Monday came as the U.N. Security Council is due to meet next week to discuss North Korea's rights record, amid calls for Pyongyang to be referred to the international court for crimes against humanity.

Senior officials from the United States and Iran resumed talks on Monday over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, a diplomatic source said, three weeks after world powers missed a deadline for reaching a deal.

The two-day discussions in Geneva will be followed by a meeting on Wednesday involving the political directors of the other five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Germany and the European Union.

The U.N. Security Council on Saturday condemned the night-time gun attack on the Israeli embassy in Athens and stressed the need to catch the perpetrators.

In a unanimous statement, the 15-member council "condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack against the Embassy of Israel in Athens, Greece, on 12 December, involving dozens of shots fired at the Embassy building, and underlined the need to bring its perpetrators to justice."