The following Security Council press statement on the 8 December bombings in Baghdad was read out yesterday by Council President Michel Kafando (Burkina Faso):

At the request of the General Committee, the Sixth Committee (Legal) today reopened its current session to hold a debate on the criteria for observer status in the work of the General Assembly, in consideration of requests for such a recommendation for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and the Council of Presidents of the General Assembly, with debate also centring on the procedural requirements implied by the late allocation of the items.

Capping an extensive day-long joint debate on oceans and the law of the sea, the General Assembly today adopted two wide-ranging resolutions meant to guide States in preserving ocean health and outline ways to combat rogue fishing practices that continued to threaten fish stocks and marine habitats around the world.

Stressing the seriousness of climate change, the General Assembly today adopted a consensus resolution, by which it called on States to work cooperatively towards achieving the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change through the urgent implementation of its provisions.

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved 11 draft resolutions this afternoon, including a text entitled “towards a new international economic order” that would have the General Assembly reaffirm the need to continue working towards that goal based on the principles of equity, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest, cooperation and solidarity among all States.

Taking action on a wide range of issues today, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved 15 draft resolutions -- 14 by consensus -– including a text by which the General Assembly would urge the international community to adopt urgent, effective steps to eliminate the use of unilateral measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries.

The second anniversary of the bombing of the United Nations premises in Algiers will be observed on Friday, 11 December, with a brief ceremony to be held from 9:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the General Assembly Building public lobby.

The Security Council committee monitoring the implementation of sanctions imposed on Iran had received reports of further violations of a ban on the export of arms and related materiel to Iran, its Chairman told the Council today.

Burundi was making commendable progress in emerging from the civil conflict that had ravaged the country for more than a decade, but it required continued international assistance in several critical areas, Youssef Mahmoud, Executive Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council today.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the $244.09 million budget of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the $301.89 million budget for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, being told that their work was expected to grow in complexity in 2010-2011, before they could wind down to a close.