New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to attend an international conference on migration and development in late October in the Philippines, the first of four Asian countries he plans to visit, the UN said Thursday.

The Second Global Forum on Migration and Development will take place in Manila on October 29. Ban will meet with President Gloria Arroyo and receive the nation's Order of Sikatuna in recognition of his diplomatic efforts.

New York - The world's major economies should work together to recapitalize the banking system and guarantee the savings of people around the world in this time of economic crisis, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

Ban called efforts by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the financial ministers of the world's seven biggest economies (G7) "laudable" in trying to instill more confidence in financial markets.

But he said "more coordinated approaches" are needed.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed North Korea's decision to accept verification measures of its nuclear plant and called on the government there to completely disable its plutonium processing facility.

Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, welcomed Pyongyang's decision to re-admit inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after the United States government removed North Korea from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday praised Martti Ahtisaari, winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, as a "long-standing United Nations colleague and ally in the cause of peace, development and human rights."

Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, has had an "exceptional career" as a UN troubleshooter in missions including the former Yugoslavia, Namibia and the Horn of Africa. His latest mission was heading negotiations to resolve the status of Kosovo, a former Serbian province.

United Nations, Oct 8 : UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has reportedly declined to give a specific timeframe of appointing an Inquiry Commission to look into the assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.

He also clarified that the Commission to be appointed would be a fact-finding body and not an investigative body.

Appointing such a commission would take “a little bit more time”, the Dawn quoted the UN Secretary General as saying.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he would cancel a planned visit to Myanmar unless the government there shows progress in democratization and humanitarian programmes.

Ban last visited Myanmar in May in the wake of the destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis in a bid to convince the military government to accept international relief aid and admit foreign workers. The government did soften its stance against international aid workers by loosening up visa restrictions.