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The top United Nations aid official in Timor-Leste said today that the $19.6 million flash appeal for the 155,000 people forced to flee their homes after recent violence is almost fully funded but he warned that provision should be made for the difficult period between harvests and the dry season.

The United Nations Security Council should discuss a package of practical actions aimed at stemming the spiraling violence in the Middle East, as well as the possibility of a new stabilization force for the region, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today following meetings with the Group of 8 countries in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he also called on the parties to avoid civilian casualties.

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today joined others who have condemned the murder earlier this month of Congolese journalist Bapuwa Mwamba.

Aiming to foster stability in Liberia, which has emerged from civil war with a democratically elected Government but still faces an extremely high unemployment rate, the senior United Nations envoy there has committed $1million towards the creation of employment opportunities for the country’s youth.

The head of a three-member United Nations team dispatched to the Middle East to defuse the growing crisis said today in Beirut they had made “some promising first efforts” following high-level discussions with Lebanon’s Government, but he stressed there was much diplomatic work ahead and the consequences of failure could be grave.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Jean Arnault of France as the new United Nations Special Representative in Georgia, a spokesman for the world body said today.

Despite limitations imposed by the current fighting in the Middle East, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is exerting all possible efforts to protect civilians affected by the violence, a spokesman for the world body said today.

Praising a series of detailed health commitments by the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, currently holding their Summit in Russia, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today stressed the importance of tackling infectious diseases because of their “health, social, security and economic impacts.”

As a team of senior United Nations official meets with the parties on the ground in an effort to end the explosion of violence in Israel and Lebanon, Security Council members are actively searching for a lasting solution to crisis, according to its July President, Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sablière of France.

United Nations agencies are offering humanitarian assistance to the Government of Ecuador after Tungurahua Volcano erupted, spewing out pyroclastic flows, shooting ash six kilometres into the air and forcing more than 3,600 people from high-risk areas to be evacuated.