Washington Global economic growth and expanded employment will be a significant part of the agenda at the annual summit of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations in Northern Ireland on June 17–18, a White House economic adviser says.

Washington The United States plans to spend $9 billion on nutrition activities through 2014, says U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah.

By Moses D. Sandy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania A foreign- based Liberian Journalist says there can be no peace in Liberia without the trial of individuals who committed war crimes against humanity and the state of Liberia.

St.Paul,Minn Twelve people have become ill with salmonellosis linked to eating a raw Mexican-style cheese, queso fresco, and state health officials are warning consumers about the risks of consuming unpasteurized dairy products.

UN News, New York All Liberians must be part of their country’s progress to ensure lasting peace, a United Nations envoy said this week, praising the West African nation for its advances since the end of its civil war two decades ago and stressing the role of people’s participation in the security transition process.

Abidjan,Ivory Coast. The United Nations said it was reinforcing its patrols in Ivory Coast and in neighboring Liberia in response to attacks from rebel forces.

Washington,D.C. Following a major international women’s conference, members of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women agreed that all nations have an unqualified responsibility to protect women and girls from violence and discrimination in the world today.

Washington,D.C., Higher education institutions in Armenia, Paraguay, Rwanda and South Sudan will be partnering with universities in the United States to promote gender equality and women’s leadership through a new program organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Higher Education for Development (HED).

Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian novelist considered the father of African literature, died March 21 in Boston. He was working as the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and professor of Africana studies at Brown University in Rhode Island at the time of his death.

By Charlene Porter, Washington, D.C The United States advocates a proposal to create a vast marine reserve in Antarctica’s Ross Sea, said Secretary of State John Kerry at a March 18 event. At the same time, he emphasized the Obama administration’s renewed focus on climate change and environmental stewardship.