The United Nations has covered up crimes by UN troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This claim is being made by the BBC, which says that it has confidential sources within the UN.

The United Nations is sending home from Haiti more than 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers accused of sexual misconduct and abuse. The allegations concern paying Haitian prostitutes for sex, including underage girls.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has hailed the world body's peacekeeping achievements while urging further reforms to allow operations to meet the challenges ahead.

The Chinese government says it is urging Sudan to be more flexible in allowing U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur. A spokeswoman in Beijing says China's new special envoy for Africa pressed the Khartoum government on the issue during his just-completed trip to the region.

The arrival of United Nations peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region is slow, according to an African Union official, who says at this rate, the deployment will take months to complete. He spoke to VOA as the African Union Peace and Security Council paid a visit to Darfur, where two-and-one-half million people remain homeless due to violence.

Sudan has agreed to the first large deployment of U.N. peacekeepers and equipment in Darfur to bolster a beleaguered African Union force. But as VOA's Peter Heinlein reports from U.N. headquarters, western diplomats reacted cautiously to the announcement, and Khartoum's U.N. ambassador appeared to contradict it.