SIX UN and Red Cross convoys destined for southern Lebanon were delayed yesterday after failing to receive security clearance from Israeli military forces, although another convoy reached the besieged town of Qana.

Two UN convoys destined for southern Lebanon were halted today after they failed to receive necessary security clearance from Israeli military forces and Hezbollah, but another convoy reached the besieged town of Qana, officials said.

Two UN convoys destined for southern Lebanon were halted today after failing to receive necessary security clearance from Israeli military forces and Hezbollah, officials said.

The UN food agency today said it was halving rations to more than 3 million people in Sudan’s embattled Darfur region because of a shortage of funds.

The United Nations today nearly doubled its appeal for donations for victims of the south Asia earthquake to $550m (€455.7m) at a donors' conference.

Ministers and high-ranking officials from 65 United Nations member countries were to meet today in a new attempt to mobilise funds for the victims of south Asia’s devastating earthquake before winter sets in.

chief Margaret Hassan’s murder by her kidnappers in Iraq has underscored the difficulty for even seasoned relief workers to provide aid to Iraqis.

Aid chief Margaret Hassan’s execution by her kidnappers in Iraq has underscored the difficulty for even seasoned relief workers to provide aid to Iraqis.

THE Sudanese army and police have surrounded refugee camps in the war- torn region of Darfur and denied access to humanitarian groups, the UN said yesterday.

The Sudanese army and police have surrounded several refugee camps in the war-torn region of Darfur and denied access to humanitarian groups, the UN said today.

UN relief workers are finding thousands of women who have suffered “atrocious rapes” during five years of civil war in Congo, a spokeswoman said today.

International aid agencies warned today of the desperate plight of many civilians in Liberia, including thousands stuck in a football stadium in the capital Monrovia with little food, shelter or medical care.

The UN is to start using helicopters to deliver aid to remote mountain regions in northern Afghanistan.

Vital food convoys from Pakistan to Afghanistan, suspended last week because of security fears, have restarted, a UN aid official said today.

World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume has said that a suspension of the bombing in Afghanistan would not necessarily alleviate the problems faced by aid agencies.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today claimed that the food situation in Afghanistan was no worse now than before the war on terrorism.