New York  - The United Nations said Friday that its top humanitarian official would visit Sri Lanka over the weekend as tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in rebel-held areas.

John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, will be in Sri Lanka for three days, urging the government to facilitate a UN humanitarian mission to the conflict zone and assessing the condition of refugees living in makeshift camps.

New York  - Every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, a child dies of malaria, and ending the scourge of the preventable disease is a major development priority, the United Nations Childrens Fund said Friday.

Despite substantial progress in the fight against malaria, especially the increased distribution of insecticide-treated nets, the disease still kills an estimated 1 million people every year, UNICEF said on the eve of World Malaria Day on Saturday.

New York  - The United Nations Security Council met Wednesday to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, where more than 100,000 refugees have fled rebel-held areas.

The informal meeting was requested by France, the country's UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters. He said he had no doubt that the 15-nation Security Council will arrive at a consensus to call for a truce or a ceasefire.

Hamburg  - A United Nations tribunal has offered to hear cases involving Somali pirates, or to assist other courts in interpreting laws that apply on the high seas, a German newspaper reported Wednesday.

On its website, Die Welt quoted Jose Luis Jesus, president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, saying his court in the German city of Hamburg was available to hear piracy cases.

"Piracy is dealt with in articles 100 to 107 of the UN Convention on Law of the Sea," he said. "That is why the tribunal is willing to try every case of piracy which the states desire it to hear."

New York - The Sudanese government's expulsion of humanitarian organizations has put the lives of 1 million people at risk, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday in a report to the United Nations Security Council.

Sudan expelled 13 international organizations in early March from the restive Darfur region and dissolved three Sudanese non- governmental organizations working in North Sudan, after the International Criminal Court indicted Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir for war crimes.

New York  - The United Nations Security Council expressed deep concern Monday after the abrogation of the Fijian constitution and sacking of all judges by the island's military regime.

The April 10 declaration also imposed severe press restrictions on the press, broadcaster and website operators.

It is a step backwards," the Security Council's rotating president, Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico, said Monday.