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United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today called for an international investigation into conditions of detention in Iraq, saying the recent discovery in an Interior Ministry building of detainees who appeared to have been tortured pointed to widespread problems with the system of detention.

An independent United Nations human rights expert has welcomed the arrest earlier this week in Senegal of former Chadian President Hissène Habré and called for his extradition to Belgium, where he has been indicted for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture.

The new head of the United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday begins his first official visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, where his office has assisted 3.5 million out of the more than 4.4 million Afghans who have returned home from the two host countries since 2002, the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced today.

A major ministerial conference on the plight of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Low-Lying Coastal Countries opened today at the Rome headquarters of the United Nations agricultural agency, to examine better, more integrated modes of development for those countries, which are highly vulnerable to natural disasters and other threats.

Ahead of African Industrialization Day, to be observed on Sunday, 20 November, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is calling for the elimination of trade barriers and the improvement of the African business environment.

Stressing yet again that no cause can justify indiscriminate violence which harms innocent civilians, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned today's "brutal terrorist attacks" in Iraq today against two Shia mosques in Khanaqin and a hotel in Baghdad.

Continuing their anti-gang operations in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, United Nations peacekeepers launched another raid in the Cité Militaire area yesterday after intense firing during the night sowed panic among residents.

With up to 18,000 children in Madagascar's south-eastern region showing signs of acute malnutrition, United Nations agencies are supporting Government-initiated emergency food and medical assistance, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.

The top United Nations political official has begun a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, meeting with Israeli National Security Adviser Giora Eiland yesterday and touring Gaza to see firsthand the situation on the ground in the aftermath of Israel’s disengagement from the area in August.

Around 8.2 million children have been inoculated against measles and polio in Mozambique, with around 3.4 million receiving vitamin A supplements, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said today.