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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today wrapped up his mission to the African Union Summit in Mozambique with a working breakfast to review the progress in the fight against AIDS in Africa and a visit to an AIDS clinic for those affected by the disease.

The President of the United Nations Security Council today announced measured progress in efforts to help resolve the situation in Western Sahara now that one of the main parties has said it will accept the most recent settlement option recommended by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Amid growing concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Burundi, with massive numbers of people being driven from their homes by fighting in the capital Bujumbura, the United Nations reported today that a pause in the shelling overnight was short lived and clashes between government forces and rebels had resumed by mid-morning.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that if United States President George W. Bush were to decide that US troops should take part with West African forces in a peacekeeping mission in Liberia, he hoped "it wouldn't take them too long either to join."

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is sending a leading viral disease expert on a three-week mission to China, to help coordinate an international investigation into the role animals might play in spreading the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today told Africa's leaders gathered in Mozambique for the African Union's annual summit that only they could end the devastating armed conflicts that were taking an unconscionable toll on their people and on the overall development of their continent.

Two United Nations agencies today called on governments to make fundamental changes in how decisions concerning the world's natural resources are made in order to involve the public more, arguing that greater transparency and accountability can lead to fairer and more effective management of natural resources.

As part of his continuing efforts to consult with a full spectrum of Iraqi society, United Nations envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello made his fourth trip outside Baghdad today, visiting the city of Hilla, where local leaders called for the UN to play a larger role in the country's affairs.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to travel to Washington on Monday to meet with United States President George W. Bush and his advisers for wide-ranging discussions, including Africa, which both are currently visiting, and on the Middle East.

Strongly condemning a series of deadly rebel attacks in and around the Burundian capital of Bujumbura, the United Nations Security Council today expressed deep concern over the latest resumption of hostilities and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the troubled central African nation.