Europe

UN agency calls for rise in farm production to combat global food crisis

17 September 2008
Agricultural production must be raised to end the global food crisis, which has driven more than 75 million additional people into hunger and poverty, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told the Italian Parliament today.
A looted shop in Tkviavi, Georgia

UN inter-agency assessment team to visit areas affected by Georgia conflict

16 September 2008
A team comprising representatives of key United Nations agencies is heading to South Ossetia and other areas affected by the recent conflict in Georgia, the world body announced today, adding that a broader fact-finding mission to the region is also being planned.

Bosnian Muslim army chief receives three-year jail term from UN tribunal

15 September 2008
The head of the Bosnian Muslim forces during the Balkan wars of the 1990s was today sentenced by a United Nations court to three years’ imprisonment over the cruel treatment his troops inflicted on Bosnian Serb soldiers captured during the conflict.
Blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans being distributed to the displaced from South Ossetia

Revised UN estimates show 192,000 uprooted during Georgia conflict

12 September 2008
Some 192,000 people were forced to flee their homes during the conflict that broke out last month in Georgia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today, as it released details of a recent assessment of internally displaced people in the Caucasus country.

High food prices spur expansion in Eastern European crops – UN food agency

11 September 2008
A senior United Nations food agency official today predicted a bumper harvest of cereal crops in Russia and Ukraine for this year and said the region possesses significant untapped agricultural potential.

Serbian ultranationalist aide found guilty of contempt by UN tribunal

11 September 2008
A former aide to a top Serbian ultranationalist politician has been found guilty of contempt by the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

Georgia: Ban considers dispatching fact-finding mission

11 September 2008
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the possibility of dispatching a United Nations fact-finding mission to Georgia, where nearly 160,000 people were uprooted by the conflict that rocked the Caucasus nation last month.
Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer

Negotiations on Cyprus make ‘fruitful’ start, says UN envoy

11 September 2008
The first day of talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders aimed at reunifying the island of Cyprus today in Nicosia were fruitful and productive, the top United Nations envoy on the issue said.

UN war crimes tribunal approves temporary release of former Serbian president

10 September 2008
Former Serbian president Milan Milutinović has been granted temporary release by the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s so that he can return to his homeland to undergo a medical procedure.
Matthew Nimetz, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Greece-FYROM talks (center)

UN-led talks on former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia name issue set to start

10 September 2008
The United Nations envoy facilitating talks between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the official name of the latter country will be meeting with the parties in New York tomorrow, it was announced today.