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The top United Nations envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has expressed concern about hate messages in the local media, which are inciting Congolese to target and take revenge on “white people and foreigners,” a spokesman for the world body said today.

The United Nations is investigating a suspected child prostitution ring involving its peacekeepers and Government soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN mission in the vast African nation said today, as it re-emphasized the world body’s zero tolerance policy against all forms of sexual exploitation.

Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said there had been “a reasonable start” from United Nations Member States participating in today’s meeting of potential troop contributors for an expanded and more robust peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, but that much work remains to be done to achieve the initial deadline of dispatching an extra 3,500 troops to the region within the next 10 days.

The Israeli Army has started its withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the Lebanese Army has begun deploying troops south of the Litani River, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is helping to support and coordinate the operations, reported today.

Top government and civil society leaders have formally laid the first foundations of new homes under a housing and social integration programme for tens of thousands of war refugees and other vulnerable people in Serbia being supported by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has spoken out against the “senseless and tragic” killing of one of its workers, who died in Lebanon during an Israeli air attack just 20 minutes before the Security Council-mandate cessation of hostilities took effect on Monday morning.

The Security Council-imposed cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah was generally maintained in the past 24 hours, with three incidents reported, according to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been in talks on facilitating a withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Army.

The voluntary repatriation of Angolan refugees from Zambia has resumed, providing them with a final chance to return with the assistance of the United Nations refugee agency.

The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned the recent murders of several journalists in Iraq, calling the attacks an “alarming campaign against freedom of the press in the country.”

World-famous actor and martial arts expert Jackie Chan stars in a United Nations-backed television public service announcement alerting children and their families around the world to the dangers of bird flu, which has killed more than 130 people worldwide and led to the deaths of 200 million birds.