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After five weeks of Government operations against ethnic militias, the United Nations refugee agency today said that it is once again able to reach some 35,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who have fled to neighbouring Republic of Congo (ROC).

The United Nations agency focusing on HIV/AIDS has welcomed a decision by the global fund which manages resources to combat the disease to start receiving proposals for grants this month, saying the decision will enable countries to maintain the momentum of efforts to stem the spread of the pandemic.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today praised the inauguration of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Honduras as “an important first step” toward binding the wounds in the Central American country opened by last year’s ouster of President José Manuel Zelaya.

The United Nations food aid agency today appealed to donors to make up for a massive shortfall in funding for Yemen, where it has already been forced to halve rations for hundreds of thousands of hungry people and faces the prospect of a virtually complete depletion of stocks by August.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo will travel to Kenya next weekend to start investigations into the violence that broke out in the east African country following the 2007 general elections, and to meet with some of those directly affected by the unrest.

The review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entered its second day today at United Nations Headquarters with speakers taking up issues ranging from the Middle East, Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to practical measures towards disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear technology.

Indonesia has announced that it intends to ratify the United Nations-backed treaty banning nuclear testing, pushing the pact one step closer to fruition.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed today Desmond Parker of Trinidad and Tobago as the top official for protocol at the United Nations.

The joint African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur today urged the Government and one of the leading insurgent groups in the western Sudanese region to stop fighting as it confirmed that fresh clashes had erupted between the two sides despite a peace process intended to end the conflict.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon laid out his proposals for a revised mandate for the United Nations mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad in a new report released today, including a significant reduction of troops in response to the latter country’s request to assume full responsibility for protecting civilians in its territory.