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Ambulances and medical workers in Gaza are facing increasing difficulty in reaching the wounded, some are being killed in doing so, and a “humanitarian breathing space” is vital to ensure that food and medical supplies reach those in need as Israel’s offensive entered its 10th day, the top United Nations relief official in the area said today.

The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders resumed their United Nations-led negotiations aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island as they held their first meeting for 2009 today in Nicosia.

The United Nations is continuing to rush assistance to help those uprooted by clashes in the war-torn far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including victims of violence at the hands of the notorious Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

A joint United Nations assessment mission is being carried out in the Indonesian province of West Papua, where a series of earthquakes yesterday injured hundreds, damaged more than 800 houses and sent some 14,000 fleeing from their homes.

Two new contingents of Nigerian police officers trained in high-risk operations have joined the joint United Nations-African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is intensifying his diplomatic drive to secure a Gaza ceasefire, meeting with Arab foreign ministers in New York today to press for an end to hostilities by both Israel and Hamas while preparing to travel to Washington tomorrow for talks with United States President George W. Bush.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said that the United Nations has an important role to play in halting the violence in Gaza, expressing regret that the Security Council did not reach agreement yesterday evening on how to end the conflict.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated the people and Government of Ghana on the peaceful and organized end to their recent presidential and legislative elections.

Interfering in the upcoming Iraqi polls by force or through threats is punishable by at least one year in prison, according to a list of offences issued today by an independent United Nations-backed elections body.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed his great concern over reports that Iranian lawyer, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has been threatened recently.