While the worst cases of religious intolerance in the past year involved killing in the name of a faith, repression of women was still the most common expression of both intolerance and extremism, Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief told correspondents at Headquarters this afternoon.

The top United Nations humanitarian official today briefed the press at Headquarters on the situations in Yemen, Philippines, Indonesia and Uganda after his recent visits to those countries.

In an initiative to unite the world and bring awareness to the Millennium Development Goals, Dominican long-distance swimmer Marcos Diaz today announced plans to connect the five continents of the world, through four long-distance swims.

The Secretary-General will brief the Security Council on Afghanistan in closed consultations at 3:30 this afternoon.

The Secretary-General paid tribute in a town hall meeting to the United Nations staff members who were killed in an attack on a guest house in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

The Secretary-General made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul today, following the attack on a Kabul guesthouse last week, in which five UN staff members were killed and others were injured.

Speaking to reporters at Headquarters today, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food warned that increasing dependency on commercial seed varieties monopolized by a few very powerful multi-national companies could severely impact small farmers in developing countries.

“2010 is going to be a historical year for the biodiversity family,” Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ahmed Djoghlaf, said, as he launched the logos for the International Year on Biodiversity and the tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to be held in Nagoya, Japan, next October.

Announcing that proceeds from a re-release of the 1960s anthem “Give Peace a Chance” will be donated to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, Heraldo Muñoz of Chile, Chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission, called for more private-sector aid to countries emerging from conflict, at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

This month’s President of the Security Council, Thomas Mayr-Harting from Austria, today briefed correspondents on November’s programme of work, which will include a debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict chaired by Austria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.