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WASHINGTON – A new World Bank report warns that South Asian countries are facing a health crisis with rising rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which disproportionately affect poor families, with possible side effects of disability and premature death, and worsening poverty as people pay for medical treatment out of their own pockets.

New York: Egypt under President Hosni Mubarak has played a key role in seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians and this role must be preserved in any transition stemming from the current mass protests, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

New York: Fresh floods have hit Sri Lanka just weeks after large swathes of the South Asian island nation were inundated by a deluge caused by torrential rainfall, the United Nations reported today, saying that over a million people already weakened by the initial flooding are affected.

New York: The United Nations is encouraging electoral authorities in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) to address alleged irregularities in last month’s presidential poll, which reportedly gave President Francois Bozize a second term but has left opposition candidates in an uproar over fraud.

New York: The United Nations refugee agency today highlighted the dangers facing those fleeing the Horn of Africa, noting the recent deaths of eight Ethiopian asylum-seekers who suffocated aboard a closed container truck in Mozambique en route to South Africa.

New York: Ten years after the Security Council called for greater involvement of women in peacebuilding, United Nations peacekeeping missions have a mixed record and need to deploy greater efforts to reach the goal, according to a study launched today.

New York: A drought in the north China plain, the country’s winter wheat production region, could lead to a reduced harvest, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today, saying concern over the water shortage has caused wheat prices in the country to rise rapidly over the past few months.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission for the seventh and final review under the Stand-By Arrangement with Romania visited Bucharest from January 25 to February 8. The mission was joined by representatives from the European Commission (EC) and the World Bank.

A Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) will be deployed during Uganda’s Presidential and Parliamentary Elections due to be held on 18 February 2011.

New Delhi: Horticulture has seen significant jump in area, production and export with help from the National Horticulture Mission in the last five years.