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Nearly 150 oxygen-starved “dead zones” in the world’s oceans and seas, linked to an excess of nutrients, mainly nitrogen, from synthetic agricultural fertilizers, vehicle and factory emissions and wastes, threaten the survival of marine animals and plants, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says in a new report.

With the Security Council set to create or expand its peacekeeping missions “on an almost unprecedented scale,” the United Nations faces considerable political, logistical, recruitment and security challenges, the UN’s most senior peacekeeping official said today.

Business enterprises in developed countries can be agents of change, linking with small business owners in developing countries, advising them and giving them technical support, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, expressing concern about weekend attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) capital, Kinshasa, called on all parties to “stay the course of national reconciliation leading to fair and free national elections,” his spokesman said today.

With misuse and overuse accounting for almost half the total global use of medicines with potential severe consequences such as drug resistance and even death, the United Nations health agency today called for multilateral partnerships to set up advocacy and education programmes especially in developing countries.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan led United Nations officials in paying tribute today after the death of actor Peter Ustinov, who served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for more than 30 years speaking out on behalf of millions of boys and girls around the world.

Eight United Nations human rights fact-finding experts have issued a statement saying they are “gravely concerned” by the reports of ethnic cleansing and widespread human rights abuses occurring in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

On the eve of a meeting between European Union (EU) ministers about harmonizing their asylum laws, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned today that two draft EU directives on asylum could force genuine refugees back to their home countries and therefore possible persecution.

Despite the absence of a central government, Somalia has managed to conquer polio, reporting its last case in 2002 and organizing a major new immunization campaign starting today, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today appealed for $60 million to help stimulate Afghanistan’s rural economy so that farmers are deterred from turning to opium production for their income.