Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned this week’s rocket attack that killed one person in the southern Jordanian town of Aqaba and urged countries in the region to work together to bring those responsible to justice.

Extensions to several World Heritage sites in Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria and other countries have been approved by the United Nations agency tasked with preserving humanity’s cultural heritage.

With the International Court of Justice having rendered the much anticipated advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, the two sides should now engage in constructive dialogue to resolve outstanding issues between them, a senior United Nations official said today.

On the first day of his visit to Japan ahead of the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged the world to work to ensure that nuclear weapons were eliminated.

A senior official with the joint United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur is again visiting a camp for displaced persons in a bid to ease recent tensions there following deadly violence between supporters and opponents of the ongoing peace process.

United Nations humanitarian agencies warned today of the possibility of waterborne disease outbreaks emerging in north-western Pakistan, where an estimated 1,400 people have already died in the region’s worst flooding in living memory and more heavy rains are forecast.

The United Nations has urged Israel and Lebanon to exercise maximum restraint after an exchange of fire today along the so-called Blue Line separating the two countries.

The Asia-Pacific region has made significant gains towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but some countries have fallen behind, especially the region’s small island nations and other least developed countries, which need much more support, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

A United Nations-drafted petition that aims to encourage governments to make the elimination of hunger their top priority has so far been signed by more than 250,000 people and is on track to achieve its goal of a million signatures by the end of November, the UN agriculture agency said today.

The United Nations cultural agency has selected the World Orchestra for Peace, an ensemble of musicians from more than 40 countries, to help promote its message and programmes and raise public awareness of its work on key issues.

The United Nations mission in Nepal today expressed deep concern at reports that both the national army and the Maoist army plan to begin recruiting new people, which would constitute a violation of the 2006 peace pact that ended the country’s decade-long civil war.

On the “sad occasion” of the one-year anniversary of evictions of Palestinian refugees from their homes in East Jerusalem today, a senior United Nations official called on Israeli authorities to allow families to return to their homes and to protect the rights of Palestinians.

An uneasy calm has returned to a displaced persons’ camp in the restive region of Darfur in western Sudan where clashes broke out last week over tensions related to the current state of the peace process, the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) there reported.

A United Nations panel reviewing nearly 500 individuals and entities subject to Security Council sanctions for links to the Taliban or Al-Qaida has removed 45 entries – or less than 10 per cent – from the list, it was announced today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he was saddened by the deaths of four Sierra Leonean peacekeepers serving in the joint United Nations-African Union mission in the Sudanese region of Darfur (UNAMID) who died in a road accident.

A Siberian plateau that contains pristine tundra, forest and cold-water lakes and is the site of a major reindeer migration route was today added to the United Nations World Heritage List.

With the future of humanity at stake, governments must continue building common ground to further progress on climate change, the new United Nations chief on the issue said in the latest round of international negotiations which kicked off in Bonn today.

United Nations agencies said today they have begun providing relief assistance to thousands of families in central and eastern Afghanistan, who are affected by the floods that have followed torrential rains in the region

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing food to more than 35,000 families affected by the worst floods northwest Pakistan has seen in decades, which have affected some one million people in the area.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced sadness at the significant loss of lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure in Pakistan as a result of torrential monsoon rains that have caused the worst floods in the country in 80 years, and sent his deepest condolences to the people and the Government of Pakistan.