United Nations

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. humanitarian chief says Sri Lanka's decision to release Tamil refugees confined to government camps is good news but the United Nations is concerned about how they are being returned home. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Khartoum's U.N. envoy, rejecting a bleak U.N. assessment of the situation in Sudan's conflict-torn western Darfur region, said on Monday it was time for international peacekeepers to prepare to leave. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - The remains of British hostage Alec Collett, who disappeared in 1985 during Lebanon's civil war while working for the United Nations, have been positively identified, the U.N. announced Monday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will announce a target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions before the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, removing a major obstacle to a deal, a senior official said Monday. Full Story »

MONROVIA, Liberia - Hundreds of people jammed into a Monrovia church to mourn a Liberian United Nations worker killed in an October attack by Taliban gunmen in Afghanistan's capital. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - A key U.N. committee approved a resolution Friday urging Iran to halt the persecution of political opponents following the country's disputed presidential election and release those still detained. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee condemned Iran on Friday for a violent crackdown on protesters after presidential elections this year that the Iranian opposition says were rigged. Full Story »

GENEVA - The World Health Organization said Friday it is investigating samples of variant swine flu linked to two deaths and one severe case in Norway, but that so far the significance of the mutation is unclear. Full Story »

EDITOR'S NOTE — The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child 20 years ago Friday, yet hundreds of millions of children still suffer from violence, hunger and disease. Associated Press correspondents around the globe interviewed children who illustrate the remaining challenges, along with some victories. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - A key U.N. committee expressed "very serious concern" Thursday at widespread reports of torture and other grave human rights violations in North Korea and strongly urged the government to put an end to the violations. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A special committee of the U.N. General Assembly condemned North Korea and Myanmar on Thursday for what it said were widespread human rights violations in the two Asian countries. Full Story »

GENEVA - Four years after cartoons of the prophet Muhammad set off violent protests across the Muslim world, Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery — essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - UNICEF urged the world to help the 1 billion children still deprived of food, shelter, clean water or health care — and the hundreds of millions more threatened by violence — two decades after the U.N. adopted a treaty guaranteeing children's rights. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. climate chief has a message for naysayers about the Copenhagen climate conference next month: It will succeed. Full Story »

GENEVA (Reuters) - Eight years after a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, the war-ravaged state is the most dangerous place in the world for a child to be born, the United Nations said on Thursday. Full Story »

COLOMBO (AFP) - The United Nations on Thursday stepped up pressure on Sri Lanka to free thousands of war-displaced civilians held in state-run internment camps. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea appears to be taking elaborate measures to evade U.N. sanctions aimed at its nuclear and missile activities, arms trading and import of luxuries, U.N. experts say in a new report. Full Story »

GENEVA (Reuters) - People held in jails and other detention centres around the world frequently have no access to clean toilets; a violation of their basic human rights, three United Nations investigators said Wednesday. Full Story »