ECONOMY: Forecast Gloomy for Poor, Says Alternative Outlook

The world economy is poised for growth this year and in 2004 as the U.S. economy gains pace, says the International Monetary Fund, but critics say in a new "alternative outlook" that the global economy is fuelled by "sucking" wealth from poor countries.

ECONOMY: Forecast Gloomy for Poor, Says Alternative Outlook

The world economy is poised for growth this year and in 2004 as the U.S. economy gains pace, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday.

FINANCE: IMF, Bank Move Into Middle East – Too Fast?

Middle Eastern governments need to adopt extensive free market economic policies, liberalise their business and trade and chop official spending if they want to spur growth and create jobs for their burgeoning populations, say the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

POLITICS-U.S: War Spending Threatens to Squeeze Foreign Aid

With the Bush administration's most recent request to Congress to fund operations in Iraq and pressure from tax cuts, economic recession and previous spending on the "war on terror", economists are starting to doubt if the government can fulfil its commitments to foreign aid and overseas development.

FINANCE: IMF Achieves Too Few of Its Promises, Review Says

IMF fiscal policy programmes, implemented in dozens of borrowing countries across the globe, largely fail to improve budgets and often over-optimistically predict investment and economic growth, says an independent report from the body.

IRAQ: U.S. Seeks International Help Again – in Dollars

As the Bush administration turns to Congress for billions of dollars more to help stabilise Iraq, U.S. officials say they will also seek foreign donors and investors to commit cash to the troubled country at a conference next month.

FINANCE: Drop in Foreign Investment Threatens Development Goals

Global foreign direct investment, already down by over 40 percent in 2001, fell by another 21 percent in 2002, raising ”considerable concerns'' about prospects for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, according to a United Nations trade body.

WTO-CANCUN: World Bank Urges Rich to ‘Go First’ on Free Trade

As delegates begin gathering in the Mexican sea resort of Cancun for talks aimed at liberalising world trade, experts are warning the meeting will fail without substantial moves by rich nations, whose positions are largely now blamed for the chronically stalled negotiations.

RELIGION-EGYPT: 88,000 Mosques, One Sermon

The same official sermon will be delivered in 88,000 mosques across Egypt from this week. The government move is a part of extensive new censorship, and penalization for mosques and preachers that do not toe the official line.

RELIGION-EGYPT: 88,000 Mosques, One Sermon

The same official sermon will be delivered in 88,000 mosques across Egypt from this week. The government move is a part of extensive new censorship, and penalization for mosques and preachers that do not toe the official line.

IRAQ: US Turns to Arabs to Keep the Peace

The United States is turning to Arab regimes for support against increasing armed resistance in Iraq, official sources here say.
   A source close to the Egyptian foreign ministry confirmed to IPS reports that surfaced in the Arab press late last week that the United States has sought the help of Egyptian peacekeeping forces.

IRAQ: US Turns to Arabs to Keep the Peace

The United States is turning to Arab regimes for support against increasing armed resistance in Iraq, official sources here say.

MEDIA-EGYPT: Anti-American Press Pays the Price

The regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continued its crackdown on media earlier this week as the police banned an anti-American weekly.

MEDIA-EGYPT: Anti-American Press Pays the Price

The regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continued its crackdown on media earlier this week as the police banned an anti-American weekly.

ECONOMY: Egyptians Wake Up to an American ‘Son-Rise’

Egypt is opening its gates to neo-liberal policies under pressure from the United States and international lenders, but many see this is a modern return to a feudal system.

ECONOMY-JORDAN: Peace Dividend Brings no Gains

Eight years after Jordan was promised prosperity for signing a peace deal with Israel, many find that economic conditions have worsened.

LABOUR: Workers Condemn Middle East Free Trade ‘Model’

A U.S. free trade initiative that provides Jordanian exports, which include mandatory input from Israel, to U.S. retailers is sliding into a sweatshop operation, say workers who complain about deteriorating health because of the poor conditions.

TRADE: U.S. Maps Out Ambitious Middle East Deal

The United States said Monday it will negotiate free trade agreements separately with Arab countries as a first step towards setting up a U.S.- Middle East Free Trade Agreement (MEFTA) by 2013 that would include up to 20 of the region's nations.

TRADE: U.S. Maps Out Ambitious Middle East Deal

The United States said Monday it will negotiate free trade agreements separately with Arab countries as a first step towards setting up a U.S.- Middle East Free Trade Agreement (MEFTA) by 2013 that would include up to 20 of the region's nations.

IRAQ: Arabs Challenge U.S. Plans to Open Nation to Multinationals

Arab business and political leaders on Sunday challenged U.S. plans to transform Iraq's economy into a free market, ''open for business'' to the world's multinational companies.

ECONOMICS: WEF Wants Mideast to Overlook Politics, say Activists

Jordanian activist Mowfaq Mahadeed is one among a few but growing number of Arabs who say they have found a new defect in corporate globalisation - it is being used to force business with Israel down Muslims' throats despite the Jewish state's occupation of Arab land and its crackdown on Palestinians.