A rousing battle between former Under-Secretary-General Inga- Britt Ahlenius, who once headed the UN's powerful investigating arm, and her boss Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is threatening to get ugly. After she sent a 50-page memo highly critical of Ban last July, Ahlenius says she received phone calls from "a former UN staff member and also a South Korean with U.S. citizenship" warning her about "acts of retaliation".

Pole-dancing may have started in the smoky backrooms of adult-only bars -- but now performers have lifted the velvet curtain on what they say is a sensual art form and a great workout. After modern belly-dancing took the world by storm, pole-dancing is the latest craze for women who say they do it for their own enjoyment, not that of men drooling over their fleshy curves in strip joints.