MAKKAH: Most women officials of Tawafah establishments demand that they should be represented with a woman member on the boards of directors of the five Tawafah establishments that look after Haj and Umrah pilgrims annually.

18 December 2008 - Achieving the goal of quality education for all by 2015 will require countries to devote greater funds to this critical sector and to address the growing shortage of qualified teachers, according to a United Nations meeting that concluded today in Oslo.

18 December 2008 - The United Nations today launched a year-long advocacy campaign to help scores of millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), focusing on mitigating the impact of conflict and natural disasters that drive so many people from their homes within their own country in what Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called "one of the greatest humanitarian challenges we face."

BAGHDAD: Iraqis and other Arabs erupted in glee yesterday at the shoe attack on US President George W. Bush. Far from a joke, many in the Middle East saw the act by an Iraqi journalist as heroic, expressing the deep, personal contempt many feel for the American leader they blame for years of bloodshed, chaos and the suffering of civilians.

Over 2,000 children are killed daily from injuries sustained in preventable accidents and every year tens of millions more suffer injuries that often leave them with lifelong disabilities, according to a new United Nations report.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the killing of Indian journalist, Vikas Ranjan, the third media professional to be murdered in the South Asian country in recent weeks.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed sanctions, including a travel ban and assets freeze, on four leaders of a Pakistani militant group blamed by India for last month's deadly terrorist attack in Mumbai.