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Incidents such as the exchange of gunfire that took place across the Israeli-Lebanese border earlier this week must be avoided, the United Nations envoy for Lebanon has stressed, warning that they can easily flare up into something more dangerous.

A senior United Nations official today voiced her concern after a Sudanese court jailed a journalist for covering the case of an alleged rape of an activist by security forces, stressing that it is the perpetrators that must face criminal charges, not those reporting on such crimes.

A United Nations-European Union initiative to help Togo cope with high food prices and bad weather by providing seeds, fertilizers and other input for 20,000 rural farmers has produced returns that are almost double the cost.

Consumption of forest products across Europe and North America is on the rise again after a two-year slump, the United Nations reported today, noting that overall demand was up by 5.6 per cent last year, a clear indication that the industry may be on a path to recovery.

The United Nations refugee agency and its partners in Tunisia are distributing food for more than 55,000 Libyans who have fled the fighting in their homeland to help them prepare their evening meals during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

The United Nations today declared a famine in three more areas in drought-ravaged Somalia, bringing to five the number of regions in the Horn of Africa country where acute malnutrition and starvation have already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is implementing an HIV/AIDS grant agreement with Belize to treat and prevent the disease among the large number of teens and young adults in the country, which has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in Central America.

Security Council members today voiced sadness at the deaths of four United Nations peacekeepers who were killed earlier this week after a landmine exploded in Sudan’s disputed Abyei area.

Nearly 12,000 United Nations peacekeepers are on emergency standby in Haiti as tropical storm Emily barrels towards the impoverished Caribbean country, which is still struggling to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.3 million others.

The Security Council today condemned the widespread violation of human rights in Syria and the use of force against civilians by the country’s security forces, calling for an end to the violence and urging all sides to act with restraint and refrain from reprisals, including attacks against State institutions.