LABOUR: Muslim Workers in Fight With Dell Over Prayer Break

U.S. computer maker Dell Inc. is disputing allegations by 30 Muslim workers who say they were fired for demanding break time to perform a 15-minute prayer at sunset.

RIGHTS: World Bank Warns Nepal Over Abuses

The World Bank, under pressure from development and human rights groups to intervene in escalating human rights abuses in Nepal, said Wednesday it was considering stopping its projects and programmes in the country if the current political tension continued and constitutional freedoms were not respected.

RIGHTS: World Bank Warns Nepal Over Abuses

The World Bank, under pressure from development and human rights groups to intervene in escalating human rights abuses in Nepal, said Wednesday it was considering stopping its projects and programmes in the country if the current political tension continued and constitutional freedoms were not respected.

TRADE: Brazil Triumphs Over U.S. in WTO Subsidies Dispute

International development groups are calling on the United States to swiftly comply with a World Trade Organisation (WTO) final ruling issued Thursday declaring the bulk of U.S. government subsidies to its cotton industry illegal.

TRADE: Brazil Triumphs Over U.S. in WTO Subsidies Dispute

International development groups are calling on the United States to swiftly comply with a World Trade Organisation (WTO) final ruling issued Thursday declaring the bulk of U.S. government subsidies to its cotton industry illegal.

RIGHTS-CENTRAL ASIA: The World’s Biggest Cotton Gulag

Medieval practices in Central Asia's cotton industry, which feeds demand from some of the world's largest agribusiness firms, are aggravating economic stagnation, environmental damage and political repression, says a leading research group.

/CORRECTION*/POLITICS: World Bank May Fund Israeli Checkpoints

The World Bank, an international development institution that says it has no political agenda, may be preparing to fund Israeli security checkpoints around a controversial separation wall under construction on occupied Palestinian territories.

DEVELOPMENT: Anti-Poverty Funds Come With Strings Attached

The World Bank's soft loan arm, the International Development Association (IDA), will get a funding increase of 34 billion dollars from rich nations over the coming three years, the largest increase in two years, international donors and lenders say.

DEVELOPMENT-CHAD: Pipeline Project Off to a Wobbly Start

A high-profile pipeline project in Chad that is backed by the World Bank has come under fire for a lack of transparency, amid rising concerns that oil revenues are being redirected from poverty-fighting efforts.

DEVELOPMENT-CHAD: Pipeline Project Off to a Wobbly Start

A high-profile pipeline project in Chad that is backed by the World Bank has come under fire for a lack of transparency, amid rising concerns that oil revenues are being redirected from poverty-fighting efforts.

ECONOMY: The Dawn of the Chinese Century?

China is quickly overtaking the United States as the world's biggest consumer of global resources, energised by a dynamic economy that is growing at a record pace, says a Washington research group.

TRADE-US: Record Deficit Challenges Free Trade Assumptions

The U.S. trade deficit swelled last year to a record high of 617 billion dollars, a nearly 25 percent increase over 2003, prompting some analysts to blame the administration's aggressive free trade agenda.

TRADE: U.S. Dumping Threatens Small Farmers, Report Warns

U.S. agricultural companies are selling crops to the world market at prices well below their cost of production, a practice called "dumping" that is one of the most damaging of all anti-competitive trade behaviors, says a new report.

DEVELOPMENT: Debt Relief Moves Ahead, But Details Are Fuzzy

An agreement by the group of seven most industrialised nations (G7) over the weekend to back 100 percent debt cancellation for poor nations has been applauded by long-time debt campaigners, but they warn that the proposal still faces some tough decisions.

DEVELOPMENT: Debt Relief Moves Ahead, But Details Are Fuzzy

An agreement by the group of seven most industrialised nations (G7) over the weekend to back 100 percent debt cancellation for poor nations has been applauded by long-time debt campaigners, but they warn that the proposal still faces some tough decisions.

DEVELOPMENT: Internal Audit Faults World Bank’s Biggest Projects

Activists are urging the World Bank to adopt recommendations made in an internal report that strongly criticises the Bank's global operations and calls for major changes.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Audit Finds More Fuzzy Math

The U.S.-run administration in Baghdad failed to keep track of nearly nine billion dollars of money it transferred to various Iraqi ministries, according to an official audit released Sunday as Iraqis went to the polls.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Rebukes Elitism at IMF and World Bank

In a rare public censure, the United Nations admonished the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for failing to broaden participation from developing countries in their decision-making, as agreed in international forums.

FINANCE: Central Banks Dump Dollar for the Euro

Central banks around the world are getting rid of the U.S. dollar in favour of the European currency, the euro, in a bid to stem losses from the declining greenback, an international survey says.

FINANCE: Windfall for Emerging Markets May Prove Illusory

Private capital flows to developing nations doubled in the last two years as investors fled the weakening dollar for greener pastures in China and Russia, says a global association of financial firms.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank Race Highlights "Democracy Deficit"

Ever since the incumbent president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, announced earlier this month that he will not seek another term, a debate has raged over who will succeed him, with potential new candidates popping up almost on a daily basis.