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When the top cricketers from across the planet come out to bat and bowl in the Cricket World Cup opening in the West Indies on Sunday, they will also be taking aim at HIV/AIDS in a United Nations campaign focusing on issues facing children and young people affected by the disease and the resources and actions needed to address them.

Condemning blasts in Iraq today targeting Shi’as on a religious pilgrimage, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the country’s leaders to use their influence to protect civilians and promote dialogue among all communities.

Convening a special meeting of the General Assembly on gender equality and the empowerment of women, the 192-member body’s president today emphasized that these goals are the responsibility of all people, and achieving them will benefit society as a whole.

Expressing his sadness at a deadly earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra today, killing up to 100 people and injuring over 70 others, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated the world body’s offer of emergency help, while an inter-agency aid team prepared to fly out to the devastated area and specialized UN disaster officers were placed on stand-by.

As Ghana marks its 50th anniversary today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the West African country, one of the first to attain independence, for serving as an example for freedom movements across the continent and also for its enthusiastic support for the world body.

The United Nations human rights chief today expressed strong concern over Iran’s arrest of at least 31 women activists during a peaceful gathering in the capital Tehran at the weekend, and urged the authorities to adhere to all international rights agreements that the country is party to, including the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

As the Security Council met today in closed session on the situation in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, a senior United Nations envoy told reporters that the parties must cease all fighting and improve conditions for the delivery of relief aid in order to facilitate the political process.

The head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has applauded the findings of a new study that calls for a “parallel push” to fight climate change and also to decrease chemicals harming the ozone layer which shields the Earth from harmful ultraviolet light.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to help facilitate an external audit of the world body’s funds and programmes there.

Lacking “the necessary level of transparency and cooperation,” the United Nations atomic watchdog agency reiterated yet again today that it could not provide assurances that Iran’s nuclear programme is solely for the peaceful purpose of generating energy and not for producing nuclear bombs.