http://www.un.org/news A world of news from the world organization. en-us Copyright 2009, UN News Centre http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/media/nslogo.gif http://www.un.org/news 140 Latest from the UN News Service http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33283&Cr=judges&Cr1= Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST Despite important steps taken by the Colombian Government, a climate of fear pervades the country's judicial system due to attacks and threats against the judiciary, victims and witnesses, a United Nations independent human rights expert warned today, calling for greater transparency, independence and more equal access to justice. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33281&Cr=unodc&Cr1= Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST The potential export value of Afghanistan's opium has dropped 18 per cent this year, the United Nations anti-drug body reported today, but it cautioned that further progress hinges on rooting out corruption in the South Asian nation. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33276&Cr=tribunal&Cr1= Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST The Security Council today extended the mandates of the United Nations tribunals set up to deal with the worst atrocities committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s and the Rwandan genocide of 1994. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33254&Cr=internet&Cr1= Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST The head of the United Nations agency tasked with safeguarding intellectual property rights today welcomed the European Union's ratification of the so-called Internet Treaties. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33236&Cr=unodc&Cr1= Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST Opium cultivation in Myanmar has increased for the third year in a row, with the number of hectares rising by 11 per cent - a total of almost 50 per cent since 2006 - although production was down due to a fall in yield per hectare, the United Nations anti-drug agency reported today. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33229&Cr=Iraq&Cr1= Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST The top United Nations envoy to Iraq met today with parliamentarians from the Kurdish Alliance Bloc to discuss the recently brokered electoral laws that allow for national elections expected to take place early next year. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33227&Cr=kosovo&Cr1= Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST Public hearings wrapped up today in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the question of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia early last year, with the court now ready to begin its deliberations. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33208&Cr=chad&Cr1= Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST The United Nations has started a programme to train local judges in eastern Chad in a bid to end impunity in a strife-torn region where conflicts have erupted between refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33190&Cr=corruption&Cr1= Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST Corruption kills development and is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving the globally agreed targets to reduce poverty, hunger and other social ills by 2015, also known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations officials warned today.