The Security Council today stressed the primary importance of holding a first round of elections in Haiti this year, and urged the authorities there to undertake a series of measure to achieve this goal.

With all its challenges, dangers and promise Latin America is a microcosm of the world in which all that the United Nations stands for is put to the test, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told leaders attending the Ibero-American Summit today in Spain, where he made a fervent appeal for true democracy.

Although the cash position of the United Nations is stronger than last year, and projections to the end of 2005 are more positive than in 2004, the world body is suffering from "continuing fragility" with a deficit of more than $2 billion alone for peacekeeping operations, the organization's controller reported today.

With the United Nations landmark Headquarters on New York’s East River in urgent need of renovation for structural, security and safety reasons, New York State’s rejection of original temporary relocation plans threatens to add hundreds of millions of dollars to the final bill, the official in charge of the overhaul said today.