Geneva - All sides involved in the talks on last summer's Georgia conflict agreed Wednesday in Geneva to set up a telephone hotline and hold weekly meetings on security incidents.

However, other issues at the eight-party talks at the UN's headquarters in the Swiss city, such as joint missions to conflict areas and humanitarian assistance, and even the date for the next round of talks, remain stalled.

Vienna  - Drug abuse continues to rise in Afghanistan and western Asia, as opium trade remains a problem despite international efforts to curb production, a UN report released on Thursday said.

In its annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) also warned that African countries were increasingly being used as hubs for trade in chemicals needed for making drugs.

New York  - The UN Security Council on Tuesday welcomed an agreement between the Sudanese government and a rebel group to settle the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

The council debated the signing in Doha of an agreement of "good intentions" between Khartoum and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the main opposition group in Darfur fighting Arab militias backed by the Sudanese government.

New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday welcomed a decision by the United States to send a delegation to a Geneva conference on racism, which has been strongly criticized for its anti-Israel stance.

The Durban Review Conference, scheduled for 20-24 April in Geneva, continues from meetings that took place in Durban, South Africa, several years ago. That conference ended with condemnation of Israeli actions against the Palestinian people.

Preparatory discussions in Geneva on drafting an outcome document have also been denounced as anti-Israel.

Geneva  - Delegates from eight parties started the newest round of talks Tuesday on last year's conflict between Russia and Georgia, though negotiations have so far yielded little results.

The talks at the United Nations' Geneva office will focus on humanitarian and security issues, including a mechanism to prevent and resolve future armed incidents near or within the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

While the parties have agreed to the mechanism in principle, they were still debating the details of how it would function.

Colombo - The United Nations Monday expressed concern about the welfare of civilians and its staff members caught in fighting in northern Sri Lanka between government troops and Tamil rebels.

The UN said that, though a designated safe zone - a 12 kilometre stretch on the coastal line in the north east - had provided some respite to tens of thousands of civilians caught up in the conflict, reports received on Sunday indicate that fighting was reported inside the zone.