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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for Darfur heads to the war-torn region today for talks as part of United Nations efforts to find a durable solution to the conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced at least 2.5 million others since 2003.

China and Russia today vetoed a draft resolution in the Security Council – the first use of multiple vetoes at the Council since 1989 – that had called on Myanmar to release all political prisoners, begin widespread dialogue and end its military attacks and human rights abuses against ethnic minorities.

Three independent United Nations human rights experts have called on Iran to stop the imminent execution of seven Iranian Arab dissidents on charges of “being at war with God,” citing allegations of torture and “trials that made a mockery of due process.”

Pursuing efforts to promote eco-friendly sports, the heads of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today reviewed plans to ensure that environmental concerns figure as a major priority for next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, from cutting pollution to landscaping.

Although the long-standing refugee crisis in the Great Lakes region of Africa continued to ease last year with tens of thousands of people criss-crossing borders to get home, serious challenges still remain in what has become a complex two-way traffic, the United Nations says in its latest update.

In his first formal news conference since assuming office, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reported on his first 10 days, ranging from efforts to give momentum to solving long-standing crises such as those in Sudan and the Middle East to “housekeeping” steps to strengthen the world body’s institutional capacity.

The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced that that it will conduct a joint evaluation of policies and operations in Africa with the continent’s major development bank.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) expressed sadness and shock today at the murder of one its employees during a roadside ambush in southern Sudan, calling the attack evidence of the instability that continues to plague the region.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said that while he understood the “necessity” behind the recent United States military operations in Somalia, aimed at suspected Al-Qaida targets, diplomatic efforts must be redoubled to bring peace to the war-ravaged country that has not had a functioning government since 1991.

Iraqi journalists, parliamentarians and government officials have united to call for the protection and promotion of a free and pluralistic media at a conference held at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris.