Avowing that more effective legal prosecution of Somalia coast pirates would help deter future attacks and strengthen the rule of law, the Security Council today stressed the importance of finding a long-term solution to the problem of such prosecution and imprisonment and voiced its support for the appointment of a Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the issue, during a debate that heard from some 30 speakers.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at General Assembly Tribute to Guido de Marco of Malta and Samir S. Shihabi of Saudi Arabia in New York, 25 August

The General Assembly today elected Joan Clos ( Spain) as Executive Director of United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to a four-year term of office, beginning on 18 October 2010 and ending on 17 October 2014.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the twenty-third World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, in Seoul, 23 August:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s message to the High-Level Thematic Conference on the International Day against Nuclear Tests, delivered by Miroslav Jenča, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, in Astana, 26 August:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Jack Lang of France as Special Adviser on Legal Issues related to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon remarks to the Security Council Open Debate on Somalia piracy in New York, 25 August:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day against Nuclear Tests, observed 29 August:

Twenty-nine August 2010 will mark the first observance of the International Day against Nuclear Tests. The Day is meant to galvanize the efforts of the United Nations, Member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, youth networks and media in informing, educating and advocating the necessity of banning nuclear tests to achieve a safer world.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this morning to elect its Chair and other officers for the General Assembly’s sixty-fifth session.