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The United Nations agency that tends to Palestinian refugees has resumed full operation of its humanitarian activities in Gaza after they had been interrupted by recent inter-factional fighting.

Cats can become infected with the highly lethal H5N1 bird flu virus but there is no scientific evidence at present to suggest that there has been sustained transmission in cats or from cats to humans, and they should not be killed as a control option, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voiced his “deep concern” today over construction work initiated by Israel in the Old City of Jerusalem and called for the suspension of any action that could exacerbate tensions.

Some 4.5 million children across Ghana will be de-wormed next week in a United Nations-backed campaign seeking to rid them of the parasites that cause a host of serious health problems, including anaemia, malnutrition and stunted growth, and often prevent them from attending school or being able to concentrate while in class.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is stepping up its investigation of the situation in the country’s far west, where violent clashes last week led to the deaths of more than 130 people.

Citing security and development concerns, the United Nations refugee agency, Pakistan and Afghanistan have made plans to close four camps, accommodating more than 230,000 Afghan refugees, by the end of this summer, while providing residents with repatriation and relocation options.

The United Nations envoy for the future status of Kosovo said today that any suggestion implying that the provisional plan he presented last week meant independence for the Albanian-majority Serbian province, which the UN has run since 1999, came from the parties, and he hoped to make his own view “very clear” by the end of March.

The top United Nations human rights official today filed a legal brief with the Iraqi High Tribunal asserting that international law prohibits the imposition of capital punishment on former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan on grounds of breach of due process, and calling on it not to pass a death sentence.

Armed men assaulted and attempted to abduct a group of female internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had been on their way to collect firewood in Darfur, the latest violent incident to plague the war-torn region, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today.

Expressing deep concern after Lebanon’s armed forces and Israeli troops exchanged fire across the Blue Line that separates the two countries, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for maximum restraint, warning that such actions violate last year’s Security Council resolution that ended the month of fighting in the region.