Five days before the world’s population would top the 7-billion mark, The State of the World Population 2011 was launched today at United Nations Headquarters, with two of its authors calling for planning and investment in development strategies that were sustainable and which would provide opportunities for all in a world that was rapidly becoming more complex, mobile and urban.

This morning, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, Ian Martin, briefed the Security Council, telling them that Muammar and Motassim Qadhafi were mistreated and killed in circumstances which require investigation. Such killings were contrary to the orders of the National Transitional Council, and he welcomed their announcement of an investigation.

The United Nations top humanitarian official this afternoon urged the international community to bolster relief aid to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where an estimated 6 million people now relied on food donations for survival.

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution this morning which ended specific measures on the no-fly zone and protection of civilians in Libya, as of one minute before midnight on the last day of October. The Council also welcomed recent positive developments in Libya, but also expressed grave concern about continuing reports of reprisals, arbitrary detentions, wrongful imprisonment and extrajudicial executions.

Cultures around the world - while vibrant and diverse - were in fact the legacy of a common humanity, said officials of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations at a headquarters press conference today.

Cutting social protection programmes as part of fiscal austerity measures could weaken recovery from the global economic crisis, as they were integral to stabilizing labour markets, maintaining human rights and stimulating aggregate demand, Michelle Bachelet, Chairperson of the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group and Executive Director of UN Women said today at a Headquarters press briefing.

The Secretary-General addressed the Security Council’s open meeting on women, peace and security today, and he said that women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution remains low. This has to change, he said, adding that he is determined that the UN system should lead by example.

As the United Nations launched the International Year of Cooperatives (2012) today, panellists at a Headquarters press conference laid out the benefits that financial institutions and other businesses using the cooperative business model could bring to a troubled global economy.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees today concluded a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at strengthening further their already existing joint cooperation in combating human trafficking, migrant smuggling and criminal abuse of refugees in key areas of their work in Latin America, the Gulf of Aden, Afghanistan and bordering countries, and North Africa.

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a UN compound in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, this morning, killing three employees of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and wounding two others. António Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees, has said “this is a tragedy for UNHCR and for the families of the dead and wounded”.