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New York: The United Nations has for the first time named the military forces and rebel groups that are the most persistent violators of children in armed conflicts, identifying groups in Asia, Africa and Latin America which continue to recruit child soldiers and use them to wage war.

Japan's economy is gaining strength, but vulnerability to sovereign risk is rising. Decisive policy action and strong external demand are driving the recovery, but large fiscal deficits have pushed public debt to unprecedented levels. With global scrutiny of public finances increasing, the need for early and credible fiscal consolidation has become critical. Fiscal adjustment should start in FY2011 beginning with a modest increase in the consumption tax. Such efforts would be helped by policies to spur growth and combat deflation.

New York: Measles, a highly contagious viral disease mostly affecting children, has been making a rapid come back, threatening to roll back the progress made through vaccination campaigns during the past two decades, the United Nations health agency has warned.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mrs. Nita Thacker visited St. Vincent and the Grenadines during May 12-21 for the annual Article IV discussions on economic developments and macroeconomic policies. The mission met with the Honorable Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the Acting Prime Minister Mr. Michael Browne, members of the Cabinet, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance Mr. Maurice Edwards, other senior government officials, as well as members of the opposition headed by Hon. Arnhim Eustace. The mission also met with representatives of the private sector and labor unions.

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) during May 7-20, 2010 to conduct the 2010 Article IV Consultation discussions and the second review of performance under the three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement approved by the IMF's Executive Board in March 2009. The team met with Honorable Prime Minister Rafael Branco, and held discussions with Minister of Planning and Finance Angela Santiago, Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe (BCSTP) Governor Luis de Sousa, other senior officials of the government and the BCSTP, members of the Economic and Finance Committee of the National Assembly, and representatives of commercial banks, the business community, and São Tomé and Príncipe's development partners.

New York: The United Nations has again appealed to governments worldwide not to forcibly return refugees to Somalia, where tens of thousands of people have been killed and some 2 million displaced by years of fighting, as the situation deteriorates even further in the Horn of Africa country.

New York: Considerable progress has been made over the past six months in United Nations-sponsored talks on the unification of Cyprus and a solution is well within reach even as the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community has changed, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a new report.

New York: A lack of funds and difficult access for aid workers are threatening the health of millions of people in conflict-plagued areas of the Central African Republic, including hundreds of thousands of children, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported.

New York: The United Nations fund tasked with alleviating rural poverty has announced a $2.5 million grant in support of job creation and food production projects in areas of Haiti where survivors of the earthquake in January sought shelter after losing homes and livelihoods in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Brian Aitken visited Colombo May 12-21 to hold discussions on performance and policies under the $2.6 billion Stand-By Arrangement, approved on July 24, 2009. The mission met with officials from the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance & Planning, the Presidential Tax Commission, and other government ministries and departments, as well as representatives of civil society and the private sector.