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Secretary-General Kofi Annan has submitted to the Security Council 35 nominations for short-term judges to serve on the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

The United Nations has joined forces with a coalition of Southeast Asian nations to map out a comprehensive strategy to combat drugs and crime in the region.

The United Nations is helping the Government of Afghanistan to create employment opportunities, particularly in the rural areas, which could go a long way towards addressing current security problems in the country, a UN official said today in Kabul.

Calling for decisive action on a global scale, two leading United Nations agencies today launched an experts’ report on a healthy diet low in saturated fats, sugars and salt and high in vegetables and fruits, coupled with regular exercise, in order to combat rapidly growing death rates from diseases such as cancer, obesity and diabetes.

Extending its precautionary travel advisory after a new assessment of the magnitude of outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today recommended that travellers consider postponing trips to Beijing and Shanxi Province, China, and Toronto, Canada.

Exposing youngsters to different cultures early in life increases the likelihood they will develop the mutual respect and tolerance critical in an interdependent world, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in a message to a children’s festival in Turkey.

The first international United Nations humanitarian staff began returning to Iraq today more than five weeks after they were withdrawn on the eve of hostilities, and UN relief agencies reported a "dramatic increase" in food supplies, some restoration of electricity in Baghdad and cautious efforts to restart medical services.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he expected to see some considerable improvements in the coming weeks in streamlining the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme, which is the only source of rations for 60 per cent of Iraq's population.

As sporadic violence and persistent reports of human rights abuses temper hopes that peace may finally be taking root in Côte d'Ivoire, the United Nations humanitarian envoy for the crisis in the country has arrived in Abidjan to launch a new, long-term relief plan.

The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced today that it would increase the number of UN peacekeepers in the Ituri province, in the volatile northeast of the country.