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New York: The United Nations refugee agency today voiced concern over reports that Sweden planned to send about 25 Iraqis back to Baghdad tomorrow, saying that a number of those scheduled to be deported belong to religious and ethnic groups that have been targeted in recent attacks.

Sharm el-Sheikh – To strengthen and enhance collaboration in the areas of economic and social development in the Arab World, the League of Arab States (LAS) and the World Bank Group today signed a memorandum of understanding at the Second Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit being held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting with Financial Sector stakeholders to get their inputs for General Budget 2011-12, here today. This was the sixth meeting in the series of pre-Budget consultations held by Finance Minister with the stakeholders of different sectors. First meeting was held on 7th January with the stakeholders of agriculture sector followed by meetings with captains of Indian industry on 11th January, representatives of different trade unions on 12th January, 2011, different NGOs on last Friday i.e., 14th January, 2010 and with noted economists yesterday i.e., 17th January, 2011.

New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) have signed an agreement on Cooperation for Trade and Investment in the Roads and Highways Sector in India. The agreement was signed in the presence of Shri Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport &Highways and Mr. Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, United Kingdom here today.

KOLKATA: Despite the best efforts of top CPI-M leaders to put behind the massacre of eight people including women at Netai village, Lalgarh on January 7 and move on, the incident has cast a long shadow within the party and the Left Front as well.

Those who had seen the Left’s ascent in West Bengal in the 1960s would experience a sense of déjà vu over the current happenings in the state. Except that the cinema reel is being played backwards. Instead of rising, the comrades are now falling. Yet, curiously, their reaction is the same. If their upward journey was marked by violence, so is their descent. But while the earlier acts of hostility had a measure of popular support, their latest deeds are damaging their already declining prospects.

New York: Foreign direct investment (FDI) to developing and transition economies rose last year, while investment flows to developed countries declined, the United Nations agency tasked with promoting trade said in an update on global investment trends released today.

New York: The United Nations-backed tribunal set up to try suspects in the 2005 murders of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others received its first indictment today, but its contents remain confidential at this stage.

New York: Thanks to improved economic conditions worldwide, international tourism recovered strongly last year following the decline brought on by the global financial crisis and recession of late 2008 and 2009, the United Nations agency tasked with monitoring the sector said today.

New York: General Assembly President Joseph Deiss said today he hopes “real negotiations” may at last get under way this year in the almost two-decades-long process to enlarge the Security Council, bringing the United Nations body whose decisions are binding into line with the Organization’s current membership.