specific
mandate to certify the outcome of the recent presidential vote. It endorsed provisional results which showed the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo had lost. But Mr Gbagbo refuses to
step down
, and his adviser has warned that the UN representative could be expelled. However, Mr Nesirky said staff members were being relocated because of the generally volatile security situation and not because of any specific threats.
The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea to discuss North Korea. The talks come after the North fired artillery shells at a South Korean island last month, killing four people. Mrs Clinton accused the North of provocation.
"This meeting takes place at a time of grave concern in Northeast Asia amid the provocative attacks from North Korea. We are committed to our partners, and we are committed to the
preservation
of peace and stability in Korean peninsula."
In the past few minutes, the meeting about North Korea has ended. Hillary Clinton said China had a special role to play. She also repeated that for North Korea to enter negotiations, it must first cease what she called its provocative and belligerent behaviour.
The director of a high-security prison in Sierra Leone, Moses Showers, has been sacked after 26 inmates escaped
in broad daylight
. Announcing his dismissal, the vice president described him as a disgrace.