Geneva  - US attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday on the sidelines of the Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva that Switzerland's president was supportive of "hate mongering" and that the anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu was a "racist and bigot."

He said he would urge the administration of US President Barack Obama to cease using Switzerland's services as its representative in Iran.

The US and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since the Islamic revolution in Iran and the subsequent hostage taking at the embassy there.

Beijing - North Korea could restart its main nuclear facility within months, the UN's international nuclear watchdog said Monday.

North Korea must also be regarded as a nuclear power, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in Beijing.

"North Korea has nuclear weapons, which is a matter of fact," ElBaradei said.

He called for a quick return to negotiations with the totalitarian state.

"We need to find a solution before they go into building their nuclear power arsenal," ElBaradei said.

Kathmandu  - Nepalese prime minister has hinted that the term of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) may not be extended beyond July, newspaper reports said Sunday.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal told visiting British Under Secretary of State for Defence Kevan Jones that Nepal intended to complete the reintegration of the Maoist combatants by July, and that UNMIN would no longer be needed, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

Port of Spain  - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday praised improving ties between the United States and communist Cuba, which have been troubled for close to half a century.

"We have noted with interest the change of direction by the new US administration," Ban said at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

"It is a sign of changing times, of fresh winds blowing, in ways large and small," he said.

Geneva  - Diplomats believe they have come up with a suitable compromise draft final declaration ahead of next week's controversial racism conference in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday.

The conference, known as Durban II, has been plagued with disagreement, with Canada and Israel boycotting the event over fears Muslim nations will focus exclusively on the Jewish state's treatment of Palestinians.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said agreement from all member states had been received, and that all disputed points such as references to the Middle East had been deleted.

New Delhi, Apr. 17: Hardeep Singh Puri, currently Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed as the next Ambassador /Permanent Representative of India to United Nations, New York, in succession to Nirupam Sen.

Born in 1952, Puri joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974. He is married to Lakshmir Puri, also an Indian Foreign Service officer, and has two daughters.

During his 35 years of service, he has served at the Indian missions in Japan, Geneva, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and Brazil.