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New York: As several boats loaded with relief supplies head for the Gaza Strip, the United Nations has urged all parties to press ahead towards resolving the problem.

The OECD and the Council of Europe has developed a Protocol amending the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The updated Convention was presented to Ministers and Ambassadors attending the annual OECD Ministerial meeting held in Paris and was signed by 11 countries already Parties to the Convention (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States). In addition, Korea, Mexico, Portugal and Slovenia signed both the Convention and the amending Protocol.

Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have noted that strong capital inflows prior to 2009 had supported rapid economic growth. However, the global crisis exposed the vulnerabilities that had built up, leading to a credit crunch and a sharp contraction in economic activity when those flows reversed. Given the limited policy flexibility, Directors emphasized the need to reduce the large fiscal and external imbalances and to strengthen competitiveness through structural reforms.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all parties in Nepal to reach consensus on extending the body tasked with drafting the country's new constitution, which was supposed to be completed by 28 May.

New York: The United Nations food relief agency and the Italian capital, Rome, signed a partnership agreement under which the city - where the agency's headquarters are located - will co-sponsor global efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition, scourges that afflict more than a billion people across the world every day.

New York: With the recent wave of natural hazards - from the devastating January earthquake in Haiti to volcanic eruptions in Iceland wreaking havoc with air travel in Europe - exposing the need for cities to implement disaster reduction plans, the United Nations is launching a campaign to boost the resiliency of urban areas.

New York: Colombia, long buffeted by armed conflict and serious human rights violations, has made efforts to reduce extrajudicial killings, but the country's security forces have continued to be been implicated in many murders, a United Nations independent human rights expert said.

New York: Ahead of the kick-off of next month's soccer World Cup in South Africa, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is hoping to empower millions of young people to protect themselves from exploitation.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Albert Jaeger, visited Serbia during May 12-26, to conduct discussions on the fourth review of Serbia's economic program supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Mr. Jürgen Odenius, visited Pristina from May 19 to May 27, 2010, and reached agreement, subject to financing assurances from donors and approval by IMF Management and the Executive Board, on an economic program to be supported by a 18-month, SDR 92.7 million (about €106 million) Stand-By Arrangement. The Executive Board is expected to meet to discuss the program in July. Kosovo would be able to draw SDR 18.8 million (about €21.5 million) immediately after Board approval.