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Inter-communal fighting in eastern Chad near Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region has uprooted another 20,000 Chadians within the past three weeks, bringing the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to over 100,000, in addition to more than 220,000 Darfur refugees, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

The head of the United Nations body mandated to protect press freedom today condemned the murder of a Nigerian journalist as a “heinous crime” undermining democracy.

With more than 12 million people suffering dog or snake bites and scorpion stings each year, the United Nations health agency today announced plans to boost the production of crucial therapeutic sera which can make the difference between life and death or crippling disability for millions of people in poor countries.

A United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) staff member was shot dead while driving his car in Baghdad yesterday, sparking mournful tributes to the late father of two who devoted over seven years of his life to improving Iraq’s shattered education infrastructure.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) grew in 2006 for the third consecutive year to reach $1.2 trillion, according to initial estimates released today by the United Nations, which also warned that economic growth is likely to slow this year because of high commodity prices and other factors.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for Darfur has arrived in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on the second stage of a mission promoting United Nations efforts to find a permanent solution to a conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced some 2.5 million others in Darfur.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today named Major General Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz of Brazil as the new Force Commander of the peacekeeping UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

More than 20,000 people have fled fighting between the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil separatists in the Indian Ocean island’s eastern costal strip of Vaharai in the past three weeks, but despite reaching relative safety they still they face many problems and an uncertain future, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

While stressing the importance of last year’s historic elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the first held there in more than 40 years, two top United Nations officials today told the Security Council that continued international involvement is crucial to stability not only in the massive country but for the whole region.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over the United States air strikes on Somalia, particularly their humanitarian impact, his spokesperson said today, adding that the world body is seeking more information on the attacks while also assessing the possibility of renewing emergency assistance to the strife-torn country and the thousands who need help at the border with Kenya.