TRADE: WTO Panel Frowns on Side Deals by Member Nations

A review commissioned by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after its first 10 years of operation came out heavily in favour of expanding global trade and urged governments to take a more aggressive role in promoting multilateral deals, rather than bilateral or regional agreements.

TRADE: US, Europe Reach Deal on Aircraft Dispute

The United States and the European Union have agreed in theory to resolve a trade dispute over their national aircraft manufacturers by halting industry subsidies.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Freeze Debts, No Strings Attached, Groups Urge

Dozens of development groups and anti-debt campaigners called on the George W. Bush administration Monday to support a mounting push for a moratorium on debt repayments for all tsunami-affected countries.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank Chief to Exit with a Mixed Legacy

World Bank President James Wolfensohn says he will not seek a third term at the helm of one of the world's most important financial institutions, as Bank watchers say he is leaving a mixed legacy marred by a series of failures and disappointments for the world's fight against poverty.

ECONOMY: Urgent Needs Obscure Long-Term Costs of Asian Disaster

The world is rallying to aid countries and lives damaged by the earthquake and tsunamis that have killed more than 120,000 people in Asia and Africa, injuring three or four times as many, but few have ventured to calculate the long-term economic impact of the disaster.

DEVELOPMENT: NGOs Claim Win as Bank Extends Rules Review

Groups fighting for a more equitable global economic system are claiming victory over the World Bank after the international public lender said it would extend the deadline for consultations on some of its lending rules and standards and release more information to the public.

CHALLENGES 2004-2005: U.S. to Take Bigger Bite of Iraq’s Economic Pie

The United States is helping the interim Iraqi government continue to make major economic changes, including cuts to social subsidies, full access for U.S. companies to the nation's oil reserves and reconsideration of oil deals that the previous regime signed with France and Russia.

CHALLENGES 2004-2005: U.S. to Take Bigger Bite of Iraq’s Economic Pie

The United States is helping the interim Iraqi government continue to make major economic changes, including cuts to social subsidies, full access for U.S. companies to the nation's oil reserves and reconsideration of oil deals that the previous regime signed with France and Russia.

CHALLENGES 2004-2005: U.S. Trade Tactic Splits Arab States

A free trade deal between the United States and the tiny Persian Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain is causing friction with other Arab states, which say the pact could weaken their economic bloc ahead of future trade talks with Washington.

FINANCE: Deficits Tarnish U.S. Dollar

The weak dollar has rattled foreign owners of U.S. greenbacks, but economists say that by taking a few measures Washington could trim its trade deficit and restore global confidence in the currency.

TRADE: Egypt Signs On to U.S.-Israel Model

High-level officials from Egypt, Israel and the United States signed a three-way trade deal Tuesday that would allow Israeli-Egyptian products duty-free access to the U.S. market, a further step toward launching a broader free trade pact in the Middle East.

CORRUPTION: Mishandled Money Plagued U.S.-Ruled Iraq

U.S. management of the Iraqi economy was plagued by irregularities, corruption, failures and mishandling of billions of dollars, according to analysts and multiple recent audits.

CORRUPTION: Mishandled Money Plagued U.S.-Ruled Iraq

U.S. management of the Iraqi economy was plagued by irregularities, corruption, failures and mishandling of billions of dollars, according to analysts and multiple recent audits.

WORLD AIDS DAY: Bank, IMF Blamed for Health Spending Cuts

Watchdog development groups accused the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Wednesday of doing too little to help the global battle against HIV/AIDS, but the two institutions responded that they are at the forefront of the struggle.

FINANCE: Poorer Nations Pay Dearly for Investment Deals

Trade and investment disputes involving dozens of millions of dollars are growing worldwide and threaten to undermine the meaning of many economic treaties, a United Nations organisation warned Monday.

MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Closures Crush Palestinian Economy

Four years of an Israeli military crackdown on a popular Palestinian uprising, based on closures of towns and villages, have left the economy of the occupied territories in tatters and its people facing soaring poverty, the World Bank said Tuesday.

IRAQ: Debt Relief Weighed Down By IMF Burden

Rich nations' decision to accept a U.S. request and forgive part of Iraq's debt will help the occupied country but also saddle it with a burdensome economic programme that threatens to take decision-making power from Iraqis and put it in the hands of officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), say critics.

TRADE: U.S.-Mideast Deal Gains Momentum

Already engaged in an ambitious global plan to complete regional and bilateral free trade deals, the United States is heating up the trade front in the Middle East with announcements it intends to start talks with three countries in the region.

ECONOMY: World Bank Urges Free Trade on All Fronts

The World Bank, aligned with other global financial institutions dominated by rich nations that promote free trade, is advising poor nations that have already signed agreements to open up for more trade on "all fronts."

TRADE: US Deal Menaces Central American Farmers – Report

A pending trade deal between the United States and Central American countries could force the collapse of rice production in those six developing nations and put thousands of farmers out of business, a leading development agency warned Tuesday.

DEVELOPMENT: Poor Nations Missing Health Goals, Warns Bank

The World Bank warned Thursday that millions of children and hundreds of thousands of pregnant women are still dying every year worldwide despite a high-profile global pact that promised to sharply cut those deaths by the year 2015.