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An IMF team visited Kingston during May 4-18 to conduct the first review of the economic program under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) approved by the Fund's Executive Board on February 4, 2010. The team met with the Minister of Finance Hon. Audley Shaw, Bank of Jamaica Governor Brian Wynter, and senior officials including Dr. Wesley Hughes, Financial Secretary, Mr. Rohan Barnett, Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission, and Mrs. Audrey Anderson, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Jamaica.

New York: High unemployment rates continue to hinder poverty reduction efforts in Africa, the United Nations says in a new report, stressing that African countries must give priority to diversifying their economies to create decent jobs to boost social development.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Costas Christou, visited Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) during May 4-17, 2010 to initiate discussions with the authorities on the second review of the country's Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF.

New York: As new indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians get under way, a senior United Nations official warned that rapid progress is vital in light of multiple challenges, including efforts by militants on both sides to derail the process.

Several recent developments, including the release of intercepts of a telephone conversation between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP, a Parliament uproar over the underselling of telecommunications spectrum, and media stories on the growing power of the lobbyist-politician-policymaker nexus, have highlighted a major affliction of the Indian polity which should concern all conscientious citizens. Lobbyists have come to acquire enormous clout, to the point of influencing the choice of Cabinet minister, nominating key bureaucrats, and formulating economic and industrial policies at the nuts-and-bolts level.

Sonia Gandhi's honeymoon with the middle class may be coming to an end. The reason for the breach is her decision to persuade the government to include caste in the census enumerations. In a fatal moment of recklessness, she has shown that her intention is not to consolidate India's place in the 21st century, but to take it back to an earlier age.

New York: The right to food has gained significant recognition in Africa, Asia, Latin America and South Asia, but more national institutional reforms are needed to ensure that the fight against hunger is rooted in legal mechanisms, a United Nations expert has said.

New York: With two weeks before the deadline for a new constitution in Nepal expires, and on the heels of a nearly week-long strike in the South Asian country, the head of the United Nations mission there urged the political parties to peacefully agree on a way forward in the limited time available.

New York: A top United Nations official has exhorted advertisers to join efforts to stamp out violence against women, calling on the industry to help defy destructive gender stereotypes, a root cause of the scourge.

New York: The United Nations commission entrusted with harmonizing economic development with environmental conservation wrapped up its annual session with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warning that the world is way behind schedule in setting its ecological house in order.