PRESS BRIEFING BY CHAIRMAN OF GROUP ON SECURITY COUNCIL SANCTIONS

AGAINST AL QAEDA

Michael Chandler, Chairman of the Monitoring Group on sanctions against

Al Qaeda, the Taliban and associates, briefed correspondents this afternoon on the Group's recent report to the Security Council.

The briefing was also attended by the Group's other Experts:  Victor Comras, Hasan Abaza, Surendra Shah and Philippe Graver.

NGO PRESS BRIEFING ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

The impact of United States challenges to the new International Criminal Court dominated a briefing for correspondents held by a group of non-governmental organization supporters of the Court this morning. 

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

The Security Council would take advantage of the presence of many world leaders in New York to make progress on a number of important issues, the current President of the Council, Stefan Tafrov (Bulgaria) told correspondents today at a Headquarters press conference on the Council's work programme for September.

PRESS BRIEFING ON MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The international community still had a long way to go towards fulfilling the Millennium Declaration, said Michael Doyle, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, as he briefed journalists on the Secretary-General’s report on the Millennium Development Goals at a press briefing at Headquarters this afternoon.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY GEORGIA

Recent air raids had left three Georgian civilians dead and seven injured, said the Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations, Revaz Adamia, at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon. 

PRESS CONFERENCE BY RWANDA

The Government of Rwanda was fully committed to the implementation of the Pretoria Peace accord, Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S PERSONAL HUMANITARIAN ENVOY

At a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, Catherine Bertini reported on an eight-day visit to the Middle East as the Secretary-General’s Personal Humanitarian Envoy.  She said that there was a serious humanitarian crisis in the region that would spiral downward if action was not taken.  She characterized the situation as a crisis of “access”.

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The message that would hopefully emerge from the World Summit on Sustainable Development was that the insidious global spread of poverty and environmental stress was the real security threat that must be addressed, Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY CHAIRMAN OF AD HOC COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS

AND DIGNITY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR OF COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

A United Nations expert on housing and land rights this afternoon strongly condemned the Israeli military's methodical destruction of homes and habitat as well as its systematic confiscation of land in the occupied Palestinian territories.