AFP - South Korea formally sought Nigeria's support for its Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon who has declared his candidacy to replace Kofi Annan as United Nations secretary general.

AP - The U.N. Staff Union overwhelming approved a resolution Thursday expressing no confidence in Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his top management team over a new proposal to radically overhaul U.N. operations.

Reuters - The U.N. Staff Union voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to express no confidence in U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his top managers after Annan announced plans to overhaul the U.N. bureaucracy.

Reuters - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan outlined on Tuesday a radical overhaul of UN procedures, recruitment and training, prompting protests by staff on proposed outsourcing from New York headquarters.

AP - Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged U.N. member states Tuesday to approve a radical overhaul of the world body's operations that would include a 2,500-member rapid reaction team to help millions facing hunger, violence and terrorism.

AP - U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraq's authorities may be violating international law by arbitrarily detaining thousands of people, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report published Tuesday.

Reuters - U.N. hopes of stepping up its activities in Iraq are still on hold due to the violence across the country and the risk of U.N. staff becoming targets, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Sudan's violent Darfur region needs more help from African nations, including Sudan itself, to end the crisis in the region, a top U.S. official said before leaving for talks to push African and European leaders to act faster.

AP - The United States has become increasingly isolated in its opposition to the proposed U.N. Human Rights Council, with close European allies and Japan joining other countries, human rights groups a dozen Nobel Peace Prize winners in backing the new body.

AP - Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Eritrea to lift the ban on U.N. helicopter flights in its airspace, citing the death of a U.N. peacekeeper who suffered cardiac arrest and had to be evacuated on a longer flight.

AFP - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on influential world figures to fight extremism and bridge the divide between East and West at the opening of a conference of Muslim and European leaders.

AP - Cyprus thinks the time may be right to restart failed talks to reunify the war-divided island and its foreign minister expressed hope Wednesday that a meeting next week with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan could get negotiations back on track.

Reuters - Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday he hoped a power struggle at the United Nations between the major powers and developing countries would not derail U.N. reforms.

AFP - Malaysia said it was backing Thailand's former foreign minister for the top job at the United Nations when Secretary General Kofi Annan's term expires at the end of the year.

AP - Secretary-General Kofi Annan is making an unexpected trip to Qatar this weekend to try to calm the violent reactions to drawings about the Prophet Muhammad at a meeting to promote religious and cultural understanding.

Reuters - U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said on Monday that Secretary-General Kofi Annan should be pushing U.N. officials harder in planning a force in Sudan's Darfur region rather than just lobbying the United States for contributions.

AFP - Germany will look at South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon's candidacy to replace Kofi Annan as United Nations chief "favorably", Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said.

Reuters - Sudan's government on Saturday rejected U.S. accusations that genocide was ongoing in its Darfur region and said it was discussing allowing a robust U.N. force to take over from African peace monitors there.

AP - The Pentagon will not close its Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorist suspects, despite U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call to shut it down, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday.

Reuters - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday rejected calls from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and others to close Guantanamo Bay prison, and firmly denied accusations of torture and abuse.