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Nearly 3,000 participants from over 125 countries have gathered in Rio de Janeiro today for a three-day United Nations-backed congress to combat the increasing scourge of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in all its dimensions, ranging from of trafficking, pornography and prostitution to rape and abuse.

Millions of children around the world are denied opportunities to go to school, condemning them to a life of poverty, a United Nations report says today, blaming governments and international aid donors for not taking on the task of reducing global inequalities in education.

Members of the Security Council continued their visit to Afghanistan today by meeting with President Hamid Karzai and his Cabinet, as well as other senior national and international officials, as part of their efforts to assess the country’s progress in nation building.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced alarm at the deteriorating humanitarian conditions inside Zimbabwe, where an estimated 6 million people could soon require food aid, a deadly cholera outbreak is spreading and health-care, education and sanitation services are collapsing.

Greenhouse gases, which drive global warming, continue to increase and carbon dioxide concentrations reached their highest level ever in 2007, according to a publication released today by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the next round of United Nations climate change talks which kick off in Poznan, Poland, next month, it was announced today.

The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has faced significant challenges over the past five months to its ability to perform the vast majority of its tasks after Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

Rebels in the strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) launched new military attacks today under the cover of a so-called police and pacification operation, breaking the ceasefire and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, the United Nations mission reported today.

The Security Council today strongly condemned the attempted coup d’état in Guinea-Bissau over the weekend and urged all political groups in the fragile and impoverished West African country to resolve their disputes peacefully.

The top United Nations political official today voiced regret that Israel and the Palestinians will probably not reach a peace agreement by the end of this year under the negotiating track launched last in the United States city of Annapolis, but noted that ongoing direct talks between the two sides are a positive sign.