United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Beirut Friday for talks on Lebanon's political deadlock. After meeting with pro-Syrian parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, Mr. Ban urged Lebanon's leaders to engage in dialogue for the purpose of promoting national reconciliation.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon met Iran's foreign minister Thursday in the world body's first direct intercession in the escalating standoff between Iran and Britain over the Tehran's detention of 15 British sailors and marines.

The U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon wrapped up a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories with a proposal to include key Arab states in a future meeting of the so-called Middle East Peace Quartet. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem that Israel's prime minister says he is open to the proposal.

The secretary-general of the United Nations is continuing a Middle East peace mission, meeting with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, the meeting occurred as Israel leveled unusually blunt criticism at the top moderate in the Palestinian Authority.

An explosion has rattled a building in Baghdad during a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were giving a news conference at the time.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said despite mounting losses, the insurgency in Afghanistan appears "emboldened by their strategic successes."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has praised a five-year old Saudi Arabian peace proposal as a "pillar" in the search for Middle East peace. The Saudi plan is to be discussed later this month at an Arab summit in Riyadh. Mr. Ban spoke about the plan in a one-on-one VOA interview as he prepares for his first trip to the Middle East as U.N. chief. VOA Correspondent Peter Heinlein talked to Mr. Ban, and filed this report.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Sudan must accept a strong international peacekeeping force in its war-torn Darfur region. Mr. Ban made the comment in an exclusive VOA interview. Correspondent Peter Heinlein spoke to Mr. Ban, and reports the secretary-general is making preparations for eventual creation of a U.N.-backed hybrid peace mission.

The United Nations General Assembly has endorsed major reform proposals that were put forward by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as he took office earlier this year.