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Meeting in the early hours of Saturday morning in an emergency session on Middle East violence that followed a four-hour debate the previous night, the United Nations Security Council today adopted a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, and urging both parties to move immediately to a meaningful ceasefire.

Reacting with sorrow to the death of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, of the United Kingdom, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has paid tribute to her leadership and extended condolences to the country’s people.

Addressing an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council convened late on Friday in response to the rapidly escalating violence in the Middle East, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel to halt its assault on the Palestinian Authority while calling on the Palestinians to accept the peace proposals put forward by United States Special Envoy Anthony Zinni.

An East Timor special panel for serious crimes has sentenced a former militia member to four years in prison for his role in a murder during the violent aftermath of the 1999 United Nations-run popular consultation.

Reiterating his strong condemnation of the deadly suicide bombing in Netanya, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement today in Beirut saying he had just spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and urged the two leaders to “stay the course” and continue the quest for peace.

Facing the prospect of momentous demographic changes that may see the number of people over 60 outnumbering those under 15 within the next half-century, an upcoming United Nations forum on ageing issues will look at ways of creating a world hospitable for citizens of all ages, according to a senior UN official involved in preparations for the conference.

Welcoming a recent declaration by the Government of Angola on its willingness to resume the peace process, the United Nations Security Council today called on the rebel group UNITA to show that it "shares a similar position" in order to achieve national reconciliation, including through a general ceasefire.

Despite the promises of globalization, about half a billion people in South Asia experienced a decline in their incomes during the '90s, compared to only a small minority of the educated urban population that benefited from the region's economic growth, according to a new United Nations report on development in the area.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today it would sponsor a BBC television series focusing on sustainable development in the lead-up to the UN World Summit for Sustainable Development to take place later this year in South Africa.

Stressing the need to maintain momentum in the battle against racism, the United Nations General Assembly has endorsed the Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa last September.