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The United Nations Security Council, acknowledging political changes in Liberia following the departure of President Charles Taylor, has presented a new list of nearly 50 of his associates who should be confined to their own countries - fewer than half of the number previously restricted.

The possibility of a deadly human influenza pandemic arising from the current outbreak of bird flu remains a serious threat which must be forestalled, leading public health officials warned today at the conclusion of a summit organized by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.

The President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and other senior officials today urged action to implement plans for tackling poverty in the world's least developed countries (LDCs).

Denouncing "the large-scale inter-ethnic violence" that has led to the deaths of at least 31 people in Kosovo since yesterday, the United Nations Security Council today called for the province's authorities to ensure that the rule of law is maintained, all ethnic communities feel properly secure and the perpetrators of crimes are brought to justice.

Responding to a letter from the Iraqi Governing Council welcoming United Nations help with the transition to sovereignty at the end of June and future national elections, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that he was prepared to send a UN team into Iraq "as soon as practicable."

Despite successes in efforts to save and improve the lives of children in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the country's social service is in a severe state of decline and poses serious challenges to their future, the head of the United Nations children's agency said today.

Preparing for the return of hundreds of thousands of Sudanese to their homeland if current peace talks end two decades of conflict, the United Nations refugee agency stressed today that repatriation could only succeed if potential returnees see real security on the ground, including protection from armed groups and militias.

The global community must look beyond the immediate humanitarian dimension of refugee problems to the economic, social and political aspects in order to prevent protracted crises where too many displaced persons become child soldiers or victims of human traffickers, according to the top United Nations refugee official.

Nothing heard so far on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) found last week at the United Nations links it to the 1994 aircraft crash that triggered the Rwanda genocide, a UN spokesman said today.

The United Nations today announced the deployment of an international human rights expert in Kazakhstan as its regional adviser for Central Asia.