Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in an interview that he is ready to discuss a "plan of action" for Syria's post-war future after the Islamic State group is defeated.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced outrage after Burkina Faso's presidential guard detained the country's interim president and prime minister, and demanded their immediate release.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is "open to dialogue" and to meeting with his US counterpart Barak Obama when he visits the UN headquarters later this month.
Ministers and diplomats from 57 countries gathered in Paris to discuss the make-or-break issue of finance in a climate rescue deal to be sealed in the French capital in December.
Some 13,000 Palestinian structures in the West Bank are currently under Israeli demolition orders, leaving residents and homes "in a state of chronic uncertainty and threat".
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that countries must "accelerate the rhythm of negotiations" on capping global warming ahead of an international climate conference in Paris in December.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon begins a visit to Nigeria at the weekend to commemorate a deadly attack on the global body by Boko Haram militants and meet the country's new leader.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed serious alarm over the upsurge in fighting in Ukraine and called for urgent steps to de-escalate the violence.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday to express concern about a visit to Moscow by the commander of Iran's covert forces.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced he had fired the mission chief in the Central African Republic, declaring "enough is enough" after a string of allegations of child sex abuse by peacekeepers.
The United Nations warned that migrants landing in Greece were facing "shameful" conditions, with the crisis-hit country claiming it was unable to cope with the massive influx on its Aegean islands.