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New York: The long-awaited and much-delayed presidential elections as well as reunification are the key issues for Côte d'Ivoire, the top United Nations envoy there said today, lamenting what he described as a “serious weakening” of the momentum toward holding polls.

New York: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has contracted eight mills in Pakistan's conflict-affected Swat Valley to produce fortified wheat flour in a bid to boost the local economy and make food more easily accessible to families in the area.

New York: The United Nations Representative in Côte d'Ivoire met today with the new President of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in a bid to reenergize a stalled electoral process further delayed by last month's dissolution of the Government and deadly street protests.

New York: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is working to ensure that some 145,000 children affected by conflict in the Central African Republic have literature, mathematics and science books.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for a rejection of extremism, underscoring that the international grouping of over 100 countries known as the Non-Aligned Movement, or NAM, has an invaluable role to play in promoting greater understanding.

The fiasco over the nuclear liability bill is the latest incident of the Manmohan Singh government appearing unsteady on its feet as it approaches the first anniversary of its present stint. In addition, any satisfaction it felt over the passage of the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha must have been dissipated by the subsequent developments, which showed that the objections of the Mandal group to the proposed law can no longer be ignored. Hence, Pranab Mukherjee's acceptance of the earlier plea of the Yadav troika - Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh and Sharad - for an all-party meeting on the subject.

NEW DELHI: The two-day visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the second week of this month to New Delhi has helped in sorting out some of the major irritants in the traditional defence collaboration between the two countries. However, talks by the official delegations have not led to any real breakthrough in pushing India-Russia trade and investment relations to a new high.

The Antiguan authorities and an IMF staff mission have reached agreement on a program that the mission will recommend the IMF support through a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for SDR 81 million (about US $124 million) over 36 months. Following review by staff in Washington and management approval, the IMF's Executive Board would consider Antigua and Barbuda's request for an SBA, which is envisaged for May.

Macroeconomic policies including monetary and fiscal easing, supported by the Tanzanian government's economic recovery plan, have helped mitigate the impact of the global crisis. The recovery, however, remains nascent and growth has been concentrated in lightly-taxed sectors, causing government revenue collection to fall below targets in the budget.

The economy is starting to recover, following the deep output contraction in the first half of 2009. However, the uncertain global outlook could pose downside risks, underscoring the need to increase room for policy maneuver and strengthen efforts to address medium-term fiscal and growth challenges.