Floods and mudslides have forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes in Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. 

This is the rainy season in the region, but meteorological experts say the rains have been much heavier than usual. 

We have counted 50 dead... At least 1,577 homes have been destroyed and many cattle killed.

Benjamin Ndahirwa, Rwanda's Disaster Management

Rwanda has suffered the heaviest toll, with more than 50 dead in the last 10 days, many of the deaths caused by landslides. 

"The toll could rise because the rainy season does not stop before mid-June," Benjamin Ndahirwa, a member of Rwanda's National Committee for Disaster Management, told AFP news agency. 

"At least 1,577 homes have been destroyed and many cattle killed." 

About 20 people died as a result of heavy rains in October. 

Displaced

In Kenya, floods and mudslides have killed 46 people in the two weeks, police have said. 

In two incidents in central Kenya, 15 people died when mudslides overran their homes as they slept on April 30 and May 4. 

The spokesman for Kenya's National Disaster Operations Centre, Bonventure Wendo, says some 50,000 people have been displaced in western Kenya. 

Nairobi is drowning in non-drinking water

In northeast Kenya, local authorities have also asked up to 50,000 people living near the Tana River to move to higher ground. 

Several hydro-electric dams have been built along the river and are now overflowing. 

"This excess water is worrying us because it poses a danger to people downstream," said Mr Wendo. 

Supplies of food and water have also been affected in several urban areas, including Kenya's capital, Nairobi. 

Further south, in Tanzania, reports say at least nine people died in floods and hundreds of families have been left homeless. 

Local officials say there has been considerable damage done to buildings and farms. 

High temperatures

In Uganda, a man and his six children were buried alive in a landslide caused by heavy rains and hundreds of families have had to leave their homes. 

The BBC's Abraham Odeke in Njinja, Uganda says two other people died in the northern Tororo district after hitting a submerged bridge. 

They were identified as a primary school boy and a middle-aged man. 

In Burundi, 147 homes have been destroyed at a centre for displaced people. 

Paddy fields around the capital's airport lie under a metre (three feet) of water. 

Kenyan meteorologist Wandimi Muchemi blamed the unusually high temperatures over the Indian Ocean for the heavy rains in the regions. 

A spokesman for the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) rebels said government troops did not put up any resistance. 

Gbarnga, on the main road to Ivory Coast, served as the headquarters of President Charles Taylor's forces when he was leader of a rebel movement. 

The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh said many people in the town had fled, with most now trying to reach Monrovia. 

They include in-patients at a Gbarnga hospital who had to be evacuated to Monrovia after the hospital was attacked by looters. 

Many were women and children who had been shot. 

Sanctions

The army pulled its wounded out of the hospital on Wednesday. 

Many of the hospital's own workers abandoned their posts soon afterwards. 

Correspondents say the attack on Mr Taylor's base marks a dramatic escalation in hostilities between government forces and the rebels. 

Charles Taylor formerly led the National Patriotic Front rebels

Lurd spokesman William Hanson told the BBC's Focus on Africa that civilian leaders had no reason to flee his forces. 

He urged the superintendents of the surrounding Bong and Lofah counties to remain in their offices. 

"The only person we are after is Mr Taylor," he said. 

Liberia is currently banned from buying weapons by the United Nations, because of the support given by Mr Taylor to rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone. 

The government says this is the reason why the army is unable to defeat the rebels. 

"It is not the strength of the enemy that is the problem here. It is some of our powerful enemies that are preventing Liberia from defending herself that is problem," Mr Taylor said in a radio address on Thursday. 

Emergency

Lurd rebels based in northern Liberia have waged a sporadic campaign against the Taylor government since mid-2000. 

President Taylor declared a state of emergency in February. 

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in north-west Liberia in recent months. 

Most of them are living in camps in the Monrovia area. 

The decision of the "Espoir 2002" grouping, led by former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, makes Mr Toure a clear favourite, correspondents say. 

Our Espoir 2002 alliance has decided to support my brother Amadou Toumani Toure

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

The "Espoir 2002" coalition accused the interior ministry of being biased in favour of Mr Cisse - an allegation rejected by the authorities. 

But Mr Keita has now apparently accepted the results, which were officially released on Thursday by the Constitutional Court. 

"You know I'm a law-abiding person. The court has (followed) the law. 

"I have recognised that... and our Espoir 2002 alliance has decided to support my brother Amadou Toumani Toure," Mr Keita told the BBC. 

'Irregularities'

The court accepted that there had been irregularities and annulled a quarter of the votes cast, but said this did not invalidate the result. 

Mr Toure won 28.70%, compared to Mr Cisse's 21.30%, down from the 23% he had been given in provisional results released by the interior ministry. 

Mr Keita got 21.03% - just 4,000 votes behind the all-important second place. 

Toure is now a clear favourite

The US-based Carter Center also criticized the first-round vote, citing a "significant number of irregularities." 

Mr Keita has the support of some Islamic groups in an overwhelmingly Muslim country where religion has traditionally been kept out of politics 

Out-going President Alpha Oumar Konare is stepping aside after serving a maximum two five-year terms. 

Although Mali is often cited abroad as a model of democracy, the 1997 presidential election was cancelled after wide-scale problems in voter card distribution and the election register. 

A new poll was held, but it was largely boycotted by the opposition. 

Analysis
By Daniel Schweimler  BBC correspondent in Havana

Nothing is ever simple in relations between the United States and Cuba. 

As former US President Jimmy Carter packed his bags for his visit to Havana, hopes were being raised in both countries that it might herald a new period of greater understanding. 

Mr Carter is the highest profile US politician to visit cuba since Fidel Castro took power

He was invited by the Cuban leader and arrives with the permission of the US authorities, who normally impose a travel ban to the communist-led island on most other American citizens. 

Positive signs

His visit also comes after US companies last November began selling food to the country for the first time since Washington imposed a trade embargo on President Castro's government 40 years ago. 

The signs, on one level at least, looked positive. 

Then the US Under Secretary of State, John Bolton, accused Cuba of having the capacity to develop biological weapons and transferring its technical expertise to countries hostile to Washington. 

He firmly identified President Castro's government as part of America's 'axis of evil', highlighting the fact that the Cuban leader last year visited several US foes, including Libya, Iran and Syria. 

The timing of the accusation surprised some in Washington. 

However, it will have pleased the fiercely anti-Castro Cuban exile community in Miami which might have felt that the Carter visit was showing Cuban/US relations in too positive a light. 

John Bolton identified Cuba as part of America's 'axis of evil'

Human rights

A week before the visit, the authorities released the country's highest profile political dissident, Vladimiro Roca, from prison. 

Cuba is sensitive about criticism of its human rights record. 

There is no legal opposition on the island although the authorities do tolerate a small, fragmented dissident movement, accusing its members of being counter-revolutionaries in the pay of the government's enemies in the United States. 

Mr Carter is expected to meet with some of them. Cuba is also sensitive to accusations that it is soft on terrorism. 

It was quick to offer its condolences to the American people after 11 September but equally quick to criticise the way the US conducted the war in Afghanistan, highlighting in the state-run media the deaths of innocent civilians. 

Relations between the governments in Havana and Washington are possibly as bad now as they have been at any time since President Castro came to power in 1959. 

Life after Fidel

But that is on the government level. President Castro has always made it plain that his argument is not with the American people, and has in the past few months gone out of his way to welcome sympathetic US politicians, actors and above all business people to Havana. 

The official line is that Raul Castro will takeover from Fidel

The official Cuban line is that Fidel's younger brother, Raul, will take over and the revolution, which is about more than just one man, will live on. 

Few Cubans dare to question that premise openly. But many independent analysts feel that without Fidel the house will come tumbling down. 

But he has defied the critics and the odds so many times over the past 43 years that only a fool would predict with any certainty what will happen to Cuba and to Cuban/American relations A.F - after Fidel. 

Jimmy Carter may be the best placed person for many years to at least cast a little light on the situation. 

Please take that flag off my desk

Eduardo Camano Chairman of the lower house

The lower house eventually passed a measure to amend the country's bankruptcy law, but not before a brawl had broken out among legislators. 

The bankruptcy law has been criticised by the IMF because it favours the rights of debtors over creditors. 

Resistance

The changes to the law also include a "cram-down" clause which will allow creditors to take over a distressed company. 

President Duhalde and his economy minister are keen to appease the IMF

The new measures will be passed to the Senate at 1400 GMT on Friday. 

President Eduardo Duhalde is desperate for speedy approval of changes demanded by the IMF to win billions of dollars in foreign aid. 

Rebellion

However, the lower house is not proving entirely compliant, and it plans to block efforts by the Senate to abolish a controversial "economic subversive" law. 

The measure was originally introduced in 1974 to prevent leftist guerrillas from receiving funds. 

"The Senate abolished the economic subversive law, but here we will not ratify that," said a spokesman for Eduardo Camano, chairman of the lower house. 

The IMF wants the law abolished before it will consider resuming talks on providing financial aid. 

Argentine judges stirred up controversy when they recently used the law to question foreign and local bankers about the movement of capital outside the country. 

The Senate also voted to amend the penal code to introduce harsher punishments for disruption of business or attempts to bring down the value of commodities or goods. 

Brawls in the house

The IMF demands have angered many Argentines because they view the organisation as US-dominated and feel that their leaders are kow-towing to Washington.

Half of Argentines are living in poverty

On Thursday, during the debate in the lower house on the bankruptcy law, legislators lunged at each other after a US flag was thrown onto Mr Camano's desk. 

Dissident deputy Alicia Castro had mocked the government by asking colleagues to replace the Argentine flag with the unfurled US flag. 

"Please take that flag off my desk," Mr Camano had retorted. 

A skirmish followed after Mr Camano asked deputies to vote for Ms Castro's expulsion on charges of misconduct. 

The session only returned to normal after Mr Camano withdrew his request to sanction Ms Castro. 

Economic woes

Argentina's economy has been in the doldrums for several years and reached crisis point last December when mass protests hit the streets. 

Argentines have been prevented from accessing their savings and nearly half of the population lives in poverty. 

At the end of April, the country appointed its sixth economy minister in 12 months. 

Free-market economist Roberto Lavagna became the new economy minister after Jorge Remes Lenicov was forced out of office. 

The Argentine Congress had refused to back Mr Remes Lenicov's plan to convert savings into bonds. 

Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government will remove reputed troublemakers including the militant Laskar Jihad group and Christian separatists. 

Religious fighting had broken out in 1999, sparked by a minor traffic accident, but intensified in mid-2000. 

The Laskar Jihad's leader Jafar Umar Thalib was arrested on 4 May for allegedly inciting violence which may have led to a massacre of Christian villagers last month. 

It was the worst bloodshed since a peace deal was signed between Muslims and Christians in February. 

Under the deal, both sides called on all unauthorised militia groups to surrender their weapons and agreed that groups from outside the province causing problems should leave. 

However, Indonesian authorities admit both sides remain heavily armed, and the government in Jakarta has been criticised for not cracking down on groups like Laskar Jihad more promptly. 

The security minister did not say when the Laskar Jihad would be forced to leave the region but said "the sooner the better." 

Laskar Jihad said it would ignore any expulsion order, and remain in the province where it runs a school and a medical clinic alongside its paramilitary unit. 

Muslim anger

The government also intends to dissolve the mainly Christian separatist group, the Maluku Sovereignty Front, Mr Yudhoyono said on Friday. 

Vice-President Hamzah Haz visited Mr Jafar in detention

The government move comes as Muslims have been protesting over the arrest of Jafar Umar Thalib. 

Mr Jafar is accused of inciting violence ahead of last month's attack on a Christian village in which at least 12 people died, including women and a baby. 

Mr Jafar had made a speech two days earlier in the islands' provincial capital Ambon in which he called on his followers to "prepare our bombs and ready our guns". 

The militant leader appears to have the backing of influential Muslims including Vice-President Hamzah Haz, who visited him in his police cell on Wednesday. 

Mr Haz has denied accusations that he was trying to interfere in the case and said he was visiting Mr Jafar as a "Muslim brother" and in his capacity as leader of Indonesia's largest Muslim political party, the United Development Party. 

Japan has lodged a strong protest against what it said was a violation of international diplomatic conventions and demanded that China hand the people back. 

China has stepped up security around embassies

Earlier reports said two men out of a group of five North Koreans succeeded in rushing into the Japanese consulate on Wednesday, before being seized by Chinese police despite the protests of Japanese diplomatic staff. 

But the video showed that two women and a child also made it into the compound before being dragged out by Chinese police. 

The video shows the two women, one with the child on her back, being wrestled to the ground as the toddler screamed. 

Several people who appeared to be Japanese consulate staff stood watching and made no move to intervene. At least one of those people later picked up caps lost by the Chinese police during the scuffle and returned them. 

Asylum move

The Japanese foreign ministry is sending an official to the consulate to look further into what happened, after admitting the reaction of the diplomats had been inadequate. 

China says the action was to ensure security, but this explanation is completely unacceptable

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi

Japan may also send a higher-level official to Beijing depending on how China handles the row. 

The BBC's correspondent in Beijing says the incident could turn into a major diplomatic spat, as any uninvited entry into the consulate by Chinese police would be a serious violation of diplomatic status. 

The asylum attempt was the latest in a series of moves by North Koreans to enter foreign embassies and consulates in China. 

Three North Koreans asylum seekers are still in the US consulate in Shenyang, where US and Chinese officials are continuing talks about their future. 

In March, 25 North Koreans successfully entered the Spanish embassy in Beijing demanding political asylum in South Korea. They threatened to kill themselves if China sent them back to the North. 

Beijing regards the tens of thousands of North Koreans in China as economic migrants who must be sent home. But in this and similar cases, the asylum seekers were allowed to go to South Korea, prompting other groups to try similar tactics. 

Ambulance service officials say 10 more casualties have life-threatening or serious injuries. There are up to 60 walking wounded.

I heard a bang, turned round and saw a train carriage on the platform coming towards me

Andy Perveris  Eyewitness

The train was the 1245 WAGN service from King's Cross, London, to King's Lynn in Norfolk. 

Railtrack confirmed that three of the train's four carriages derailed in the accident which happened just before 1300BST. 

The rear carriage flipped across two platforms and became wedged under the canopy of the station roof. 

	Click here for more detail

A bridge over a road was damaged and later partly collapsed. 

The train was not due to stop at Potters Bar and it is thought it was travelling at up to 100 mph. 

Chief Superintendent Andy Wright, who is leading the rescue effort compared the devastation at the scene with the Hatfield crash two years ago, in which four people died. 

He said all the dead and most seriously injured had been in the rear carriage. 

Eyewitness John Fuller described the carriage being "spread-eagled" across the tracks. 

The carriage that is underneath the station's canopy is totally destroyed - its metal is twisted

Paul Davies Eyewitness

"It looks like a bomb explosion - there's very bad damage," he said. 

The driver of the West Anglia Great Northern train, Andy Gibson, from London, was uninjured and said he "felt the train give way from the rear of the train". 

A spokesman for his union Aslef told the BBC he felt the train - which had 151 people on board - had passed over something. 

'Panic'

Andy Perveris was waiting on the platform when the crash happened. 

"I heard a bang, turned round and saw a train carriage on the platform coming towards me," he said. 

Andy Perveris ran as the train careered towards him

"Everyone just turned and legged it. 

"I saw bodies lying on the rail, heard screaming and saw smoke and dust settling from the train. 

"The first thing I did was panic. The second thing was get onto the rail to see if there was anyone who needed help." 

Mr Perveris went to the aid of an unconscious woman. She died in his arms. 

Queen's sorrow

Accident investigators at the scene have marked off a section of track under blue tarpaulin. 

The Queen was said to be "shocked" to learn of the crash. 

Eyewitness Paul Davies said he could see the station from the window of his office. 

The train shuddered and seemed to catapult

Jane McDonald, Passenger To read more of your comments, click here

"The carriage that is underneath the station's canopy is totally destroyed. 

"Its metal is twisted." 

The injured were taken to Barnet General Hospital. 

A spokesman said injuries ranged from open fractures to head and chest injuries. 

Investigation

Transport secretary Stephen Byers ordered an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive. 

"All of our thoughts must be with the families and friends of those who have been killed or injured today in this tragic accident," he said. 

Debris from the bridge hit by the train fell onto vehicles

Several News Online readers and regular travellers on that line said there was a noticeable "jolt" every time the train went through Potters Bar. 

"I have been waiting for this the last couple of weeks," said Tim Richardson. 

"Every time we pass that area the carriages have been hitting something on the rail and shaking violently." 

Local businessman Luciano Capaldo, 39, said the scene was impossible to imagine. 

He said: "There was a lady, still alive trapped under the debris, the scene was like a funeral, everyone was whispering and sombre." 

Potters Bar station is only one stop down the line from Hatfield where four people were killed in a train crash two years ago. 

Louise Christian, the solicitor acting for the victims of the Southall and Ladbroke Grove disasters, called for an immediate public inquiry into Friday's tragedy and the Hatfield crash. 

Emergency information 0845 944 1551

Since we first sent forces to the Balkans much has changed and improved and we are changing with them

Nato Secretary General George Robertson

"These changes will help us build on success," said Nato Secretary General George Robertson in a statement accompanying the announcement. 

"Since we first sent forces to the Balkans much has changed and improved and we are changing with them." 

K-For polices the Kosovo-Macedonia border

"In light of the evolving security environment it is now appropriate to create lighter, more mobile and flexible forces, that will not only be more cost effective, but will also be able to meet current challenges effectively," a statement said. 

In December, the United States Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, called for a large cut in troops deployed in the Balkans. 

Some 3,000 US soldiers are serving with S-For, and there is also a large US contingent within K-For. 

Falling numbers

S-For troop numbers have been gradually falling since the end of the Bosnian civil war, when 60,000 soldiers were deployed in the country. 

In January the international community's high representative in Bosnia, Wolfgang Petritsch, told Nato it should maintain its military presence. 

"We have not yet reached the point of no return where Bosnia-Hercegovina would truly be a viable state that could stand alone," he told Nato ambassadors in Brussels.

By Julia Wheeler  BBC Gulf correspondent

Women have failed to win a single seat in elections in Bahrain, despite being allowed to vote and stand as candidates for the first time. 

Sheikh Hamad wants to modernise Bahrain

Many of the women were not expecting to win a council seat but said they had stood to set an example and to make it easier for other women in the future. 

This was the first election in Bahrain for almost three decades, and is being seen as the start of significant change in the government of this Gulf island. 

High turnout

After the excitement of polling, many in Bahrain and across the Gulf will be saddened to learn that none of the 30 women who took part in elections will be taking office. 

About two-thirds of the 50 seats on local councils have now been declared. 

The remaining seats will be decided in run-off votes next Thursday after candidates failed to get an outright majority of 51% of the votes. 

The government is to appoint the heads of the five new local councils, which will have responsibility for roads, public works and improving the facilities in their areas. 

Turnout had been expected to be high at about 70%, but the information minister has reportedly suggested it was about 50%. 

Dress rehearsal

Most people in Bahrain see this election as just making a start on the democratic changes that have been promised to them by their king, Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa. 

He has scheduled parliamentary elections for October this year, when women will be allowed to stand and vote in national elections for the first time. 

Analysts say it is in the national assembly that the real power lies. 

Many believe the local polls have been simply a dress rehearsal for the full performance in October. 

Another group of militants involved in the five-week stand-off have been given a hero's welcome in the Gaza Strip, casting doubt on Israeli hopes that they would be put on trial. 

	Church siege deal 13 militants to be exiled in Europe  26 gunmen removed to Gaza  84 civilians and police will be released  10 activists to be deported  Click here for Bethlehem siege timeline

Israeli troops began withdrawing from Bethlehem a few hours after the siege ended. 

The church compound was evacuated after a blast inside in the early evening. 

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called the end of the siege a "very important step". 

The Vatican welcomed the "happy conclusion" to the standoff, while US President George W Bush said the breakthrough was "a positive development". 

Deal in doubt

The 13 militants, described by Israel as "senior terrorists", have been confined to a hotel in the Cypriot resort of Larnaca after the Cypriot Government agreed to give them temporary sanctuary. 

Voices from the Conflict

Every human being who has his land invaded, all he possesses taken and his rights denied has a right to resist - he has a right to do this by any means he has

Abu al Abed, Palestinian militant  Read his story

Portugal and Greece said on Friday they would take some of the militants, whose final destinations will be decided at a meeting of the European Union on Monday. 

Palestinian officials said EU Middle East peace envoy Miguel Moratinos would visit the militants in the Flamingo Beach hotel on Saturday. 

Twenty-six other Palestinians, regarded by Israel as less dangerous, were bused to the Gaza Strip where they were greeted by cheering crowds. 

Under the deal which brought the siege to an end, the group were expected to face trial in a Palestinian court, but it is now unclear how they will be dealt with. 

As the men crossed into the Gaza Strip, Colonel Dardonah told reporters: "They have arrived in part of Palestine and they are free in their homeland." 

But Israeli military spokesman Olivier Rafowicz said the important thing was that they had been removed from the Bethlehem area. 

"They might be treated as heroes, but factually they lost and they know it," he told BBC News Online. 

Siege over

BBC correspondent Orla Guerin, who went inside the Church of the Nativity on Friday, described the conditions there as squalid, but with no apparent evidence of major damage. 

Earlier, the militants emerged from the church one by one, looking gaunt but in apparently good health, passing through a metal detector before being escorted onto waiting Israeli buses. 

Two of the Palestinians were brought out on stretchers

Weapons left behind in the church have been collected by American officials. 

The Israeli army said soldiers found 40 explosive devices during a search of the church following its evacuation. 

The gunmen were among 200 Palestinians who took refuge there after Israeli troops stormed into Bethlehem on 2 April as part of a massive operation against militants. 

Eighty-four civilians and police who also left the church will be set free in the Palestinian territories. 

Ten foreign pro-Palestinian protesters were the last group to leave the church after earlier refusing to come out. 

Beersheba blast

As the siege ended, a blast thought to be caused by a hand grenade or bomb rocked a main street in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba. 

Israeli medical sources said at least four people were wounded. 

Police arrested a suspect near the scene of the explosion and detained a second man shortly afterwards. 

The attack came as Israeli troops massed outside the Gaza Strip in apparent preparation for a retaliatory strike after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 15 Israelis on Tuesday. 

Israel army radio said military chiefs were considering postponing an attack on Gaza, while Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he expected any operations to be "careful and measured". 

The full extent of the haul found in the rugged mountains of the Paktika province is yet to be established but exceeds 20 truckloads, stacked to the ceiling of the caves. 

A range of weapons was uncovered in caves sealed with padlocked metal doors or mesh. 

Preparations at the complex for demolition continue and that should be complete some time today

Marine Major Jeff Moulton

"This is of mixed nature and it includes artillery and mortar rounds, recoil-less rockets, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), multi-barrel rockets," said Marine Major Jeff Moulton. 

"All these... can be measured by the hundred, and also 12.75 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition. 

"Preparations at the complex for demolition continue and that should be complete some time today (Friday)." 

He was speaking at Bagram air base, the Afghan headquarters of the 12,000 to 13,000-strong US-led coalition forces. 

Casualties

Major Moulton also revealed there had been three casualties among his men in the past 24 hours, none related to battle. 

"One is a twisted knee, one is suffering diarrhoea and vomiting and one has altitude-related illnesses," he said. 

British troops are working to discover al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters as part of Operation Snipe. 

The marines have air assistance

It is hoped this could be the last phase of the mission to flush out al-Qaeda members from Afghanistan. 

Although there has been no combat yet, the marines are under instructions to "capture or destroy". 

The summit in New York aims to craft a document setting out new goals to improve the lives of children worldwide over the next 10 years. 

Abstinence does work all over the world

Austin Ruth, head of religious institute

But the United States delegation has found itself at odds with many other nations over issues such as sex education and abortion which it believes have no place in a document about children. 

Along with Somalia, America is one of only two countries that have not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Washington is also opposed to a resolution blaming Israel for the situation of the Palestinian children. 

US suspicious

"I cannot understand the way in which they [the US] are trying to dismantle the most universally ratified human rights treaty ever. I do not understand how a civilised country can say that," says 17-year-old Tom Burke of the Child Rights Caucus. 

Some 250 children delegates are attending the summit

The BBC's UN correspondent says the US views children's rights with suspicion, seeing them as a threat to the role of parents as the true custodians of the nuclear family. 

As expected, sex education and abortion have proved to be divisive issues. 

"Condoms are a recipe for disaster," says Austin Ruth, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. 

"As a matter of fact, abstinence does work all over the world. Abstinence has not even been tried in many... well certainly... European countries, but also in African countries. We ask that it be tried, simply tried." 

Palestinian children

The draft General Assembly resolution which is being discussed says children under Israeli occupation "remain deprived of many basic rights". 

The resolution has angered the Israelis and their main ally at the UN, the United States. 

It prompted an angry response from the head of the Israeli delegation, Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit, who accused the Palestinians of using children as suicide bombers. 

But the US argues that an international summit on children is an inappropriate place to raise these kind of concerns. 

And the resolution before the General Assembly, where every UN member state has the right to vote, has a good chance of being passed because of the large number of Arab nations, and countries sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. 

Pollution-related deaths

A UN report released on Friday says 5,500 children die every day worldwide after consuming water and food polluted with bacteria. 

The study says diarrhoea and respiratory infections are two of the leading causes of child mortality - which is made worse by malnutrition - and affect about 150 million children. 

The study, focusing on how a degraded environment affects children, aims to raise awareness of these problems during the special session. 

The three-day UN conference is a follow-up to a 1990 summit that aimed at setting guidelines in the areas of children's education and health for governments, non-governmental organisations and UN agencies. 

But many of the targets have not been met, due to lack of funds.