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Concluding its regional diplomacy today by meeting Israel’s Prime Minister, a high-level United Nations delegation that also met Lebanese leaders at the weekend said there were reasons for both optimism and pessimism after the past few days of talks, namely because the UN-brokered cessation of hostilities has so far held but also because there still exists a worrying power vacuum in southern Lebanon.

Welcoming the weekend announcement of provisional election results from last month’s landmark polls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged all Congolese parties to abide by the electoral law and to “accept and respect” the final results of the elections.

Following assurances from Israeli authorities of safe passage for its flights, the UN’s Environmental Programme (UNEP) is swiftly moving to begin aerial surveys of the massive oil spill that affected some 150 kilometres of Lebanese and Syrian coastline.

One week after a cease-fire between Israel and Hizbollah went into effect, four experts from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today began a five-day mission to Lebanon to determine how the cultural agency can best help the country recover from the devastation caused by the conflict.

Continuing his campaign to spotlight threats to press freedom worldwide, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned the murder of four employees at a newspaper in Guyana.

Lebanese forces moved into more areas in the south of the country today as Israeli troops withdrew and the cessation of hostilities with Hizbollah continued to hold, the United Nations interim force, which is coordinating the operation, said in a statement.

The UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today strongly condemned Saturday’s attack on the African Union’s mission in that country, in which two soldiers were killed.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today hailed the signing of an agreement between members of Togo’s Government, political parties and civil society aimed at promoting lasting political reform in the West African country.

A high-level United Nations delegation met Israel’s Foreign Minister and other senior officials today to discuss the issue of prisoners, an arms embargo, the lifting of the blockade of Lebanon and other issues relating to the Security Council resolution that led to the cessation of recent hostilities between Hizbollah and Israel.

The pace of progress in current negotiations for an international convention to protect the rights of persons with disabilities needs to pick up if an agreement is to be reached by the end of the week, the chair of the negotiations warned today.