ENGLISH NEWS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved folic acid fortification of corn masa flour. The approval allows manufacturers to voluntarily add up to 0.7 milligrams of folic acid per pound of corn masa flour, consistent with the levels of certain other enriched cereal grains.

Euro area economies are facing a “lackluster medium-term outlook,” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported on Friday.

Severe drought exacerbated by El Niño conditions has hit parts of Somalia’s Puntland and Somaliland, affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

China's economy continued to slow in the first quarter of 2016, official data showed on Friday, but several key indicators pointed to signs of stabilizing.

Presenting her candidacy for the post of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Helen Clark, said today “I have led the UNDP to its current ranking to the most transparent development organization in the world and I want to bring that approach to the UN too.”

At a news conference to open the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, IMF chief Christine Lagarde presented the Global Policy Agenda, which calls for a more potent policy mix of structural, fiscal and monetary actions to lift growth.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met today with Rafael Correa, the Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador, which will host the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (HABITAT III) from 17 to 20 October 2016.

Mondelēz International announced the launch of a strategic e-commerce partnership with Alibaba Group, the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world. The collaboration enables Mondelēz International to further tap into the potential of e-commerce by expanding its reach and deepening its penetration in the Chinese market.

Iranian and Kazakh officials signed nine memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the sidelines of a meeting between the visiting Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran Apr. 11, Iran's state-run IRINN TV reported.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement late on Saturday to set up a 60 billion Saudi riyal investment fund among other investment agreements including an economic free-zone to develop Egypt's Sinai region, Egyptian state television reported