The family of Ms. Sharapova, 23, fled the Belarusian city of Gomel a year before she was born because of radiation concerns in the wake of the accident, which exposed more than 8 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia to radiation.

Arriving in Belarus yesterday from the United Kingdom, where she competed in the Wimbledon tournament, the three-time Grand Slam champion first visited the town of Chechersk.

At a hospital there, she stopped at the so-called Fairy Tale Room where children are treated through interactive games and psychotherapeutic sessions.

It is one of the initiatives supported by the three-time Grand Slam champions Maria Sharapova Foundation, which, in partnership with UNDP, supports seven youth-oriented projects and a scholarship programme in areas affected by the Chernobyl accident.

Ms. Sharapova today made a personal contribution of 0,000 to further expand the UNDP-supported activities.

She also visited the Ecology of the Soul scheme, another project funded by the foundation, which works with young people to give public spaces a facelift. All of the children clamoured to have their photographs taken with the Russian tennis ace.

They are definitely a good example of how local communities can overcome the victim syndrome, take greater control over their lives and build productive futures for themselves, Ms. Sharapova said.

Today, she visited a tennis centre in Gomel, where she met the 2010 winners of a five-year scholarship for youth from Belarus Chernobyl-affected areas.

Ive seen progress in Gomel and kids with a great potential to do even more. What they need is to work hard and believe in themselves. Having supported health and education initiatives, I am very happy to start contributing on sports and physical activities that promote healthy lifestyles, Ms. Sharapova said.

The project a joint collaboration between her foundation and UNDP seeks to help talented students access high-quality education in the countrys top universities.

Maria Sharapovas work in this region will convey a message of optimism to young people, in a once-blighted region, where a return to normal life is now a realistic project, said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark.

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The migrants, most of whom were Somali, died on Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today from Athens. Eleven bodies were recovered on the Greek side of the Evros River and five were found on the Turkish side.

UNHCR said it was the second time in a month that migrants had drowned crossing the Evros River, with three people dying in an incident at the end of May. The Evros River is an increasingly popular transit point for people trying to enter the European Union (EU).

Giorgos Tsarbopoulos, the head of UNHCRs office in Greece, said this weeks incident once again underlines the vulnerability of people who are forced to flee and are trying to reach safety.

Sixteen people lost their lives because they felt they had no other option than to enter the EU through the clandestine services of smugglers, he said. We have every reason to believe that the majority had a legitimate need to seek international protection in the EU. This tragic incident highlights the need for States to protect people at sea and crossing rivers, regardless of their motivation for doing so.

UNHCR is also calling on governments to assess refugee applications from people from southern and central Somalia in the broadest possible way and to extend complementary forms of international protection when refugee status is not granted to someone.

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Ms. Sharapova will travel to the Gomel region, where her charitable foundation has helped fund several UNDP projects focused on providing opportunities for youth and improving their communities.

The three-time Grand Slam champion from Russia is slated to visit a local arts centre where children work on projects to beautify the town and learn about the environment, tour a health facility that takes a therapeutic approach to treating emotional and mental stress, and meet students who have won university scholarships from her foundation.

Ms. Sharapova, 23, whose family fled Gomel a year before she was born because of radiation concerns in the wake of the nuclear accident, said she wanted to contribute to the recovery of a region where she had such a personal connection.

Giving young people the tools they need to reach for their dreams is a good way to overcome the Chernobyl legacy, she said. Helping people help themselves is at the heart of UNDPs mission, and I am eager to see the results first-hand.

The Sharapova Foundation, in partnership with UNDP, supports seven youth-oriented projects and a scholarship programme in areas of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine that were affected by the Chernobyl accident.

Maria Sharapovas work in this region will convey a message of optimism to young people, in a once-blighted region, where a return to normal life is now a realistic project, said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark.

Ms. Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon womens singles crown as a teenager in 2004, today won her second-round match at the tournament, which concludes at the end of next week.

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A delegation from the prosecutors office spent three days in Georgia this week as part of their preliminary examination to determine whether a formal investigation should be opened into the conflict, which pitted Georgian forces against South Ossetian and Russian forces.

The fighting in August 2008 killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians and displaced an estimated 160,000 people from their homes.

Georgia is a State Party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, and as such the Court potentially has jurisdiction over crimes committed on Georgian territory, including the forced displacement of civilians, the killing of peacekeepers and attacks targeting civilians.

In a statement issued today from The Hague, where the ICC is headquartered, Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stressed that the Rome Statute ensures the end of impunity. He added that States maintain the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute serious war crimes, with the ICC only stepping in if there are no genuine proceedings in the domestic court system.

The prosecution delegation received briefings while in Georgia on the progress of national investigations into the conflict. They met the countrys chief prosecutor, the head of the Supreme Court, senior Government ministers and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

We appreciate the cooperation of the Georgian authorities, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo noted. It is mandatory that those most responsible for serious crimes be investigated.

This was the second visit to Georgia by ICC prosecutors, who have also travelled previously to Russia to obtain information on national investigations in that country.

A preliminary examination serves as the first phase in the ICC process and is conducted to assess whether a formal investigation should be opened. The ICC currently has investigations open in five situations: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), northern Uganda, Sudans Darfur region, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Kenya.

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In a meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Mr. Ban and DerviŞ Eroğlu discussed the situation in Cyprus, where UN-backed negotiations are taking place with the aim of reunifying the island.

The Secretary-General encouraged Mr. Eroğlu to grasp the current political window of opportunity to reach a settlement, according to information released by the UN spokespersons office. He hoped that the two leaders would make serious advances in the coming months, understanding that this would require compromises on both sides.

For his part Mr. Eroğlu voiced his commitment to reaching a settlement, adding he believed it could be achieved this year with goodwill and compromises from both sides.

The negotiations began in 2008 after the then Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot community leaders committed themselves to working towards a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions.

That federation would comprise a federal government with a single international personality, along with a Turkish Cypriot constituent state and a Greek Cypriot constituent state, which would be of equal status.

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The report Trafficking in persons to Europe for sexual exploitation, issued by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), shows that criminal groups make around billion per year through sexual exploitation and the forced labour of some 140,000 people at any given time.

The vast majority of victims tend to be young women who are subjected to rape, violence, imprisonment, drugging and other forms of abuse, according to UNODC.

Around the world, more than 2.4 million people up to 80 per cent women and girls are currently being exploited as victims of human trafficking, either for sexual or labour exploitation, the UN has said. Other forms of human trafficking include domestic servitude, the removal of organs and the exploitation of children.

At the same event, Spain, which holds the European Union (EU) presidency, became the first country in the region to join the Blue Heart Campaign, which aims to raise awareness about human trafficking among governments, civil society, the media and the general public.

Speaking at the event, Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of UNODC, urged all Europeans to join the Blue Heart campaign.

Europeans believe that slavery was abolished centuries ago. But look around slaves are in our midst. We must do more to reduce demand for slave-made products and exploitation, Mr. Costa added.

In Europe, more than half of the victims are from the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, with 13 percent originating in South America, seven per cent in Central Europe, five per cent in Africa and three per cent in East Asia.

The UNODC report also showed that while men were most often convicted as traffickers, women are often used to front gangs to entrap victims.

The UN agency also found a strong correlation between the nationality of the trafficked victims and their recruiters.

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The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Rasim Delić in 2008 to three years imprisonment for failing to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or punish the crimes committed by his subordinates in July and August 1995, in Livade and also the Kamenica Camp.

Mr. Delić had appealed the sentence and was granted provisional release in May 2009 while the proceedings were reviewed. After Mr. Delics death, his son filed a request that the appeal process continue.

The appeals chamber ruled that it is not legally possible to continue appellate proceedings in circumstances where the appellant has died before the rendering of an appeal judgement, and the case should be terminated due to lack of jurisdiction.

In its decision, the appeals chamber wrote that it cannot discern any prevalent approach, let alone identify any rules of customary international law that would be directly applicable to the situation at hand.

As a consequence, nothing can undermine the finality of the trial judgement and ruled that the record of the case remain intact.

This case represents the first time at either the ICTY or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) where an appellant has died before the appeals judgment is delivered.

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