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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the President of Finland have held talks on a number of the world's most troubled regions as well as the need for a concerted international approach to global problems.

Mitar Rasevic, a suspected war criminal facing charges of murder and torture, has been transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague.

The recent killing of two Kosovo Serb teenagers should serve as the impetus to promote reconciliation in the area, a senior United Nations official said at the funeral.

Afghanistan will reap its largest cereal harvest on record this year thanks to good rainfall and better access to seeds and fertilizers, but many households will still need humanitarian assistance as they continue to suffer the impact of a severe drought and two decades of civil strife, two UN food agencies reported today.

The Afghan Government, with support from three United Nations agencies, is set to chlorinate a total of 17,500 shallow wells in the country’s capital Kabul in an effort to reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal disease and the risk of other water related illnesses.

The top United Nations rights official has applauded a South Asian initiative to fight HIV/AIDS and the trafficking of women, issues he called "two of the gravest human rights challenges facing the international community today."

Concerned that a newly enacted Israeli measure on marriage and citizenship will adversely affect family life, an expert United Nations panel on anti-discrimination has urged the Knesset to revoke the law, which effectively bars Palestinians married to Israelis from living with their spouses in Israel.

Terming them "violations," the United Nations envoy for Southern Lebanon has called on Israel to stop its over-flights of Lebanese territory following a large number of such air incursions yesterday, "which were very visible and loud and appear to have taken place over large parts of Lebanese territory."

In its first resolution on Iraq since it recognized United States-led occupying forces as the provisional authority, the United Nations Security Council today formally welcomed the US-appointed Governing Council as a key step towards restoring the country’s sovereignty and set up a new mission to coordinate UN activities there.

The United Nations envoy for Liberia arrived today in the capital Monrovia, where rebels handed over control of the vital port area to Nigerian peacekeepers, paving the way for food and other aid to start flowing again to the famished, overcrowded city.