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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reacted with sadness to the news of a fuel pipeline explosion that killed hundreds of people in Nigeria, and pledged the world body’s help in efforts to prevent other disasters from occurring in West Africa.

With conflict in Somalia now involving Ethiopian air strikes and hundreds of wounded, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today telephoned Ethiopia’s Prime Minster and Kenya’s leader to try and halt the escalating violence, while the UN envoy to the war-ravaged country urged the Security Council to call on all sides to immediately halt the fighting.

Reaffirming the civilian status of journalists, the United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution urging warring parties to prevent abuses against them and to respect their professional independence and rights.

In response to flash floods that swept over the province of Aceh in Indonesia earlier this month, the United Nations has allocated an initial $2 million grant from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for the relief effort in the area, where an estimated 170,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

Wrapping up the main part of its annual session, the United Nations General Assembly approved over $1.8 billion in funding for a comprehensive renovation of the world body's New York campus, drawing immediate praise from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has argued that the refurbishment is essential from a health and security standpoint, and promises to save costs in the long-run.

Capping months of intensive negotiations, the United Nations Security Council today unanimously decided to impose a set of sanctions against Iran in response to its uranium-enrichment activities, which Tehran says are for peaceful purposes but which other countries contend are driven by military ambitions.

Asian and Pacific societies are already living beyond their ecological means, and if they are to continue their much-needed economic expansion, they will have to shift towards efficient ‘green growth’ patterns, according to a new United Nations report released today.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) by another year and agreed to temporarily increase its staff numbers to help with presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for next July.

The first people on the scene of a nuclear or radiological emergency, whether from a terrorist attack, an accident or theft, the so-called ‘First Responders’ who are usually local medical, police and fire brigades, now have a detailed list of “do’s and don’ts” under key United Nations guidelines issued today.

In a fast moving world that is increasingly struck by disasters, where speedy communications can make the difference between life and death, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has teamed up with The Vodafone Group Foundation (VGF) to enhance the humanitarian response to global emergencies.