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Former President Slobodan Milosevic will go on trial early next year for crimes allegedly committed in 1999 in Kosovo, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced today.

Commenting on his talks with the Government of Yugoslavia on ways of encouraging Kosovo Serbs to vote in the upcoming elections, the head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today said he and Yugoslav President Kostunica thought they could find areas of cooperation that would "meet the concerns of Kosovo Serbs and improve their situation."

A new international law - described by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as "the most ambitious venture in environmental democracy undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations" - entered into force today following its ratification by 17 members of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).

Sports and healthy environmental practices will be the focus of a series of international conferences in Japan, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, today reached agreement with the President of Pakistan on principles that must guide the resolution of the Afghan conflict.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, who has repeatedly called on Afghanistan's neighbours to open their borders to fleeing Afghans, met with the President of Pakistan today to discuss the volatile situation.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan met today with the heads of the principal organs of the United Nations to discuss how to spend the money that came with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the UN and Mr. Annan earlier this month.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Georgia today stressed the need for talks aimed at determining the future status of Abkhazia within that country.

Preparations for next year's World Summit on Sustainable Development advanced this week from the regional to the global level, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai told a press conference today at UN Headquarters in New York.

The latest events in Georgia - including the downing earlier this month of a helicopter with the United Nations observer mission - show that unless meaningful negotiations on the future political status of Abkhazia are restarted, the entire peace process can be jeopardized, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report.