The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today sent in almost $1 million in emergency aid, including hygiene kits, rehydration sachets and tarpaulin sheets, to the Indonesian province of Aceh, where deadly floods have already killed almost 100 people and left over 200,000 needing urgent assistance.

Wrapping up the main part of its annual session, the United Nations General Assembly approved over $1.8 billion in funding for a comprehensive renovation of the world body's New York campus, drawing immediate praise from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has argued that the refurbishment is essential from a health and security standpoint, and promises to save costs in the long-run.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti today expressed alarm at the sudden spate of kidnappings, especially of children, across the impoverished Caribbean country, and vowed to maintain its operations against the gangs responsible for the crimes.

Two children die every hour from easily preventable pneumococcal diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean, and there are more than 1.6 million cases of the illnesses that include pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis as well as severe ear infections, sinusitis and bronchitis, according to a United Nations-backed report released today.