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Opium production in Afghanistan, a $3-billion-a-year trade accounting for more than 90 per cent of the world's illegal output, soared to frightening record levels this year, concentrated mainly in the strife-torn south where the ousted Taliban, which once banned poppy cultivation, now profits from the drugs trade, the United Nations reported today.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for the immediate release of student leaders and other protesters arrested by the Myanmar authorities following a series of peaceful demonstrations against the sharp increase in fuel prices.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres has commended the South African Government for its progressive policy on refugees and asylum seekers, including a commitment to ensure their access to basic services.

As United Nations agencies continued to aid victims of the massive bombings that killed hundreds of people and wounded many more in northern Iraq earlier this month, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today reported growing risks to tens of thousands of displaced children in other areas of the country due to pervasive heat, poor hygiene and lack of water.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Major-General Zhao Jingmin as the new Force Commander for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the first time that the world body has had a Chinese national head one of its missions.

United Nations-backed climate change talks drawing 1,000 representatives from over 150 Governments, business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions kicked off in Vienna today, preparing the way for a global summit set for later this year in Bali.

The United Nations humanitarian arm voiced serious concern today at reports that the Sudanese Government has ordered the Country Director of CARE, a large non-governmental organization (NGO), to leave the country within 72 hours.

As part of a tour of the region, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for the areas affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Joaquim Chissano stopped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this weekend.

The Security Council today welcomed the recent peaceful staging of the first round of Sierra Leone’s presidential and parliamentary elections and called on the country’s people to maintain their respect for independent national institutions and processes during the upcoming presidential run-off process.

The Security Council said today it is ready to establish a United Nations-mandated, multidimensional presence in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR) to help protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid to thousands of people uprooted due to insecurity in the two countries and neighbouring Sudan.