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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Rapid industrial growth and urbanization in Yunnan province in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have caused serious pollution and environmental problems that are threatening its continued economic expansion.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed for maximum restraint after inter-religious violence in the central Nigerian city of Jos has reportedly left over 200 people dead.

New York: United Nations agencies and their non-governmental partners warned of the impact of the Israeli blockade on Gaza's population and on health services, and repeated their call for an immediate opening of the border crossings.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern over growing violence in Sri Lanka, including the reported killings of political activists, as the country's people prepare to head to the polls to elect a new president.

New York: Officials from the six countries of South-East Asia's Mekong region and observers from the United Nations and other stakeholders opened a two-day meeting in Myanmar to step up the war on human trafficking, including sexual slavery and labour exploitation.

New York: Fifteen of the world's least developed countries (LDCs), meeting at a high-level United Nations forum, today called for a greater voice in international financial structures and priority for resources to mitigate climate change.

New York: A United Nations independent human rights expert today voiced concern over the deaths of homeless people in India's capital from a cold wave, underscoring the need for adequate shelter to protect them from harsh weather.

NPT and CTBT are back on center-stage. First, US President Obama's renewed commitment to the NPT during his Nobel acceptance speech, and now the Japanese Prime Minister's quest for India to join the CTBT, stare this country in the face. It becomes necessary for India to clarify its standpoint on the two nuclear treaties.

The world economy is not yet officially out of recession, and the ongoing fragile recovery at the start of 2010 offers little encouragement for policy-makers in better-looking emerging economies of Asia to embark on 'exit' strategies, especially the fiscal support that has sustained subdued growth in the region.

Asia is leading the world in recovery from the global economic crisis and, in the coming years, the region's continued dynamism can give it an even greater role, said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, speaking at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. “Now is the time for Asia to contribute even more to the shaping of the post-crisis global economic landscape,” he said. “Potentially, this is a historic moment for Asia. A moment of transformation.”