Geneva - There was a 12 per cent rise in the number of asylum seekers in industrialized nations in 2008, the United Nations said Tuesday, in part due to the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
In all, 383,000 new asylum requests were made in 51 industrialized countries last year, with about 40,000 coming from Iraqis, the largest group seeking refugee status.
New York - The United Nations called Friday for the injection of 15 billion dollars a year into the global water market to meet daily water needs of billions of people as it marks World Water Day on Sunday.
March 22 each year is dedicated to water, a commodity called "the most precious natural resource" by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"More than ever we need to work together to use it wisely," Ban said in a prepared message for World Water Day.
Geneva - The recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip lacked a legal basis and potentially amounted to a "crime against peace," according to a United Nations expert report available on the internet Friday.
Israel did not exhaust the diplomatic options available to it before engaging in the conflict, Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, wrote in the report.
New York - The first nuclear weapon free-zone in the northern hemisphere will enter into force Saturday, which calls on the five Central Asian states to forswear nuclear weapons and abandon all nuclear activities.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the event, saying it is of particular significance because it encompasses a region where nuclear weapons previously existed.
New York - The two-month-old Somali government has taken steps to meet benchmarks that would allow the deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation in the troubled land known more for piracy than development, a Somali official said Friday.
Foreign Minister Mohamad Abdullahi Omaar told the UN Security Council in an open session that President Shiekh Shariff Shiekh Ahmed, elected on January 30, has taken security measures and steps to mobilize support for the peace process.
New York - Haiti's crime rate has dropped significantly in the past five years with a capable police force patrolling its streets, but the country still faces a big challenge in providing food to the population, a UN Security Council delegation said Thursday.
A police force of 14,000 officers is now functioning in some of the most crime-ridden areas, according to the delegation headed by Costa Rica's UN Ambassador Jorge Urdina that visited Haiti last week.
Geneva - There was a 12 per cent rise in the number of asylum seekers in industrialized nations in 2008, the United Nations said Tuesday, in part due to the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
New York - The United Nations called Friday for the injection of 15 billion dollars a year into the global water market to meet daily water needs of billions of people as it marks World Water Day on Sunday.
Geneva - The recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip lacked a legal basis and potentially amounted to a "crime against peace," according to a United Nations expert report available on the internet Friday.
New York - The first nuclear weapon free-zone in the northern hemisphere will enter into force Saturday, which calls on the five Central Asian states to forswear nuclear weapons and abandon all nuclear activities.
New York - The two-month-old Somali government has taken steps to meet benchmarks that would allow the deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation in the troubled land known more for piracy than development, a Somali official said Friday.
New York - Haiti's crime rate has dropped significantly in the past five years with a capable police force patrolling its streets, but the country still faces a big challenge in providing food to the population, a UN Security Council delegation said Thursday.
