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The positive developments in Sierra Leone over the past eight weeks constitute grounds for "cautious optimism" that the country is on the path towards long-awaited peace, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released today at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

To mark United Nations Charter Day, delegates from Member States and UN staff today held a silent march for peace at the world body's Headquarters in New York.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is attempting to help a family from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that requested asylum this morning at the organization's office in Beijing, China.

A donor conference chaired by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) ended today in Dili with representatives of 13 countries indicating they will provide continued support to the newly formed East Timor Defence Force (ETDF).

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) convened a one-day meeting in Geneva today to identify steps for ensuring that global trade rules and international environmental treaties become fully compatible.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's envoy for Western Sahara told the Security Council today that the new proposal contained in Mr. Annan's recent report was aimed at bringing the two sides to the table and did not mean abandoning the current settlement plan, which calls for a referendum to allow the people of the Territory to choose between independence or integration with Morocco.

Making his initial appearance before a judge at the United Nations war crimes tribunal, the former mayor of a commune in Rwanda pleaded not guilty today to five counts charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the 1994 massacres in the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today it was planning to interview a group of 150 Liberians on board a Swedish-registered ship that was able to dock on Tuesday in Lagos, Nigeria, after a month-long odyssey along the coast of West Africa.

The United Nations system today seized the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking to highlight the positive power of sports in reducing the demand for illegal drugs.

The death toll from the earthquake that shook southern Peru over the weekend has reached 97 today, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).