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Warning that drug trafficking in Afghanistan threatens to undermine the region's fragile stability, the United Nations anti-drug chief today urged the international security force policing the war-torn country and its borders to crack down on drug runners and poppy cultivation.

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned the recent murder of three journalists in the Philippines in the past three weeks, calling for the punishment of the perpetrators in a country where six journalists have been killed so far this year.

The United Nations Special Humanitarian Coordinator in Liberia today called on combatants inside the country's interior region to stop fighting, as sporadic clashes between government forces and rebel militia continue to threaten civilians and relief workers and impede aid distribution.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers today deplored the "cold-blooded murder" of four Afghans working for a Danish aid agency on a UNHCR-funded water project in central Afghanistan, the latest in a recent spate of attacks on relief workers in the country including mine clearers.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced shock and distress today after learning of the brutal attack on Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, whom he described as a personal friend and a steadfast supporter of the United Nations.

Crucial progress is being made towards conserving the world’s most spectacular habitats and wildlife, with protected areas now topping 100,000 in number and exceeding by far the land surface of India and China combined, according to a United Nations draft report released today, the most comprehensive ever on the issue.

A new international air treaty affording accident victims potentially unlimited compensation will enter into force on 4 November, replacing a 75-year-old system limiting liability to a few thousand dollars per passenger, following its ratification by the United States, the United Nations civil aviation agency has announced.

The last of more than 16,000 Sudanese refugees have been relocated from an overcrowded camp in western Uganda to new camps in the north of the country following violence that marred the beginning of the transfer last week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.

With forest fires around the world burning a combined area equal to that of India in 2000 and this year being one of the worst fire seasons in recent history, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today called on countries to involve local communities in the management and protection of their forests.

Seeking to further define the role of the United Nations in Iraq and accelerate the early restoration of Iraqi national sovereignty, Secretary-General Kofi Annan will meet with the Foreign Ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council in Geneva on Saturday, his spokesman announced today.