DEVELOPMENT: Activists Urge US to Lobby Hard for Debt Forgiveness

Development groups and economists are stepping up the pressure on rich nations to act on a proposal backed by the United States to cancel the debts of the world's poorest poor nations.

OIL: Signals to Unlock U.S Reserves Fail to Ease Prices

Statements from the George W. Bush administration that it may heed repeated calls to release oil from its strategic stockpiles have failed to halt climbing prices.

ECONOMY: Bank Urges More Deregulation, Critics Hear Same Old Tune

âÇ The World Bank said Wednesday that poor countries will have to follow the lead of rich nations in knocking down regulations facing businesses if they want to make their economies grow.

POLITICS-US: In Tight Race, Big Donors Sagely Bet on Both Horses

âÇ Four of the 10 most lavish contributors to the George Bush and John Kerry presidential campaigns are the same financial services corporations, says a new analysis of campaign fundraising released today.

OIL: Hoarding Helps Pump Up Prices, Say Analysts

Oil hoarding by countries like India and China, mimicking a long-standing U.S. practice, could be contributing to the recent hike in crude oil prices, say experts here.

TRADE: U.S. Defies WTO Ruling on Duties

The United States says it will continue to slap duties on countries it claims dump their goods on the U.S. market, despite a World Trade Organisation ruling Tuesday that authorises seven nations and the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions against Washington's anti-dumping law.

TRADE: U.S. Defies WTO Ruling on Duties

The United States says it will continue to slap duties on countries it claims dump their goods on the U.S. market, despite a World Trade Organisation ruling Tuesday that authorises seven nations and the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions against Washington's anti-dumping law.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank Boosts Lending to India

The World Bank said Thursday it will more than double its loans to India, one of the world's largest economies, with a goal of halving poverty there by 2015.

DEVELOPMENT: Fewer Conditions, World Bank Promises

The world's largest public lender for development says it is replacing its controversial "adjustment lending," accused of squeezing scarce resources from poor borrowing nations, with a new set of rules more attuned to poverty reduction efforts in developing countries.

POLITICS-U.S.: ‘Staggering Amount’ of Cash Missing In Iraq

Three U.S. senators have called on Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to account for 8.8 billion dollars entrusted to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq earlier this year but now gone missing.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank’s Private Arm Pledges to Listen

The World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), is opening its doors for talks on its rules and guidelines for lending, a move that could influence billions of dollars in future loans to the private sector annually.

ECONOMY: Starbucks Workers Brew Alliance With Rights Group

U.S. coffee retailer Starbucks is facing increasing pressure from a group of its employees and human rights and environmental activists to provide better working conditions for coffee growers and store workers worldwide.

ECONOMY-IRAQ: New Gov’t Left With Fraction of Rebuilding Funds

A barrage of binding decrees passed during the U.S. occupation of Iraq, combined with a lack of resources, heavy debt and the continuing presence of a massive U.S. force, mean that the recent handover of authority to Iraqis may not equal real control over the economy, analysts here say.

POLITICS-US: Report Shows Revolving Doors Between Gov’t, Business

Hundreds of U.S. military and government officials routinely leave their posts for jobs with private contractors who deal with the government, a process that has eroded the lines between government and the private sector, according to report released by a watchdog group on Tuesday.

POLITICS: Charity Finds Billions Missing In Iraqi Oil Revenues

Billions of dollars of Iraqi oil money have gone unaccounted for by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), according to a new report released Monday.

ECONOMY: Israeli Pullout From Gaza Won’t Ease Crisis, Bank Warns

A new World Bank report says that the Palestinian economy has suffered one of the worst recessions in modern history under Israel's policy of closing borders and restricting the population's movement, and warns that a new Israeli plan to forfeit some settlements and withdraw from Gaza is not enough to improve the situation.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank Oil and Gas Reforms Fall Short – Critics

The World Bank has promised to reform its loans to the oil, gas and mining industries, in what some watchdog groups call a "disappointing" response to a study that recommended the Bank halt all funding of the controversial extractive industries.

RIGHTS: Abu Ghraib Tactics Inspire Torture in Neighbour Egypt

In what may be the first concrete example of the effects of the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal in Iraq, lawyers and human rights groups in Egypt, a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, say that local police are increasingly resorting to new torture tactics similar to those used by U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

RIGHTS: Abu Ghraib Tactics Inspire Torture in Neighbour Egypt

In what may be the first concrete example of the effects of the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal in Iraq, lawyers and human rights groups in Egypt, a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, say that local police are increasingly resorting to new torture tactics similar to those used by U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

POLITICS-U.S.: Halliburton Under Renewed Fire for Iraq Deals

U.S. military auditors have criticised construction giant Halliburton for the way it does business in Iraq, concerns amplified by former employees who are alleging financial abuses in the U.S.-occupied country.

POLITICS-U.S.: Halliburton Under Renewed Fire for Iraq Deals

U.S. military auditors have criticised construction giant Halliburton for the way it does business in Iraq, concerns amplified by former employees who are alleging financial abuses in the U.S.-occupied country.