New Zealand has been named and shamed as one of the fattest countries in the world in a report report by the United Nations.

The news on the population front sounds bad: birth rates are not dropping as fast as expected.

Seven al-Qaeda-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the UN compound with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault.

More than half a million people fled Syria's civil war last year, and the UN says that number could double by the end of 2013.

Skiing destinations tend to be in well-heeled areas - from Queenstown to the Austrian Alps and Whistler. Naturally, North Korea wants to take its place alongside the well-groomed resorts.

A New Zealand Defence Force peacekeeper was abducted from an observation post in the Golan Heights and held for five hours today.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has been appointed for another term as head of the UNDP.

New Zealand has joined a United Nations initiative pledge to take action to end violence against women and girls.

The Government has ignored a recommendation by the United Nations for legislation to dictate a maximum number of work hours to reduce the risk to workplace health and safety.

Editorial: British foreign secretaries have not been frequent visitors to New Zealand. When the relationship was so close that New Zealanders referred to the "mother country", they probably did not feel the need to visit.

North Korea said it will launch a long-range rocket in mid-December, a provocative move just eight months after a failed attempt violated a United Nations ban.

Over 100 journalists have been killed so far this year - the highest number since the International Press Institute (IPI) began keeping count of journalists' deaths in 1997.

Editorial: The Kyoto Protocol's commitments represent the only concrete actions taken so far by the international community to address climate change.

The Government's decision last week not to sign up to the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol has left NZ's credibility on climate policy in tatters on the global stage, writes Patrick Hardstaff.

The United States was yesterday re-elected to another three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council.