ENVIRONMENT: Chevron Faces More Scrutiny in Ecuador over Pollution

Leaders of indigenous communities in Ecuador are pressing their government to investigate senior executives from U.S. oil giant Chevron for an alleged environmental fraud scheme in the mid-1990s related to a long-running six-billion dollar class action suit in the South American nation.

FINANCE: Internal Audit Questions IMF’s Role in Africa

An independent review of the International Monetary Fund's operations in Africa says the lender's work is confused, vague, lacks transparency and suffers from a large gap between rhetoric and practice.

FINANCE: Europeans Asked to Pull Strings at World Bank

Campaigners across Europe have called on their governments to withhold funds from the World Bank unless specific changes are made to policy and practice at the Washington-based public lender. But analysts say that if the past is any indication, a positive response is unlikely.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Major Lenders Urged to Enforce Gender Rights

Dozens of international civil society groups have endorsed a call to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to require enforceable gender protections and equality for women as conditions for project financing in developing nations.

IRAQ: World Bank Mum Over Report of Staff Injury

An Iraqi World Bank staffer has been wounded in Baghdad, according to an inside source in the Bank and an email message from a source on the ground in Iraq, the first casualty for an international organisation since a bombing that targeted the Baghdad U.N. headquarters in 2003.

IRAQ: New Oil Law Seen as Cover for Privatisation

The U.S.-backed Iraqi cabinet approved a new oil law Monday that is set to give foreign companies the long-term contracts and safe legal framework they have been waiting for, but which has rattled labour unions and international campaigners who say oil production should remain in the hands of Iraqis.

FINANCE: African Dam Fails Global Benchmarks – Study

Two international non-governmental organisations say a controversial dam in Uganda that is getting funding from the World Bank deserves failing marks for coming up short on economic viability and transparency standards set out in a highly-acclaimed international benchmark study on dams.

FINANCE: African Dam Fails Global Benchmarks – Study

Two international non-governmental organisations say a controversial dam in Uganda that is getting funding from the World Bank deserves failing marks for coming up short on economic viability and transparency standards set out in a highly-acclaimed international benchmark study on dams.

FINANCE: Wolfowitz May Bring Bank Back to Iraq

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may appoint a new resident director for Iraq soon, a move that sources inside the Bank say could contradict the institution's policies on engagement in conflict-stricken areas and put his role in the 2003 U.S. invasion back into the limelight.

ENVIRONMENT: Lawmakers See New Urgency in Warming Debate

Legislators from 20 countries meeting here in Washington called on the world's richest nations to urgently adopt a plan to address climate change that includes emissions targets for both developed and developing countries, as well as measures to reduce deforestation.

ENVIRONMENT: Legislators Debate Climate Road Map

Legislators from the world's most industrialised nations and from major developing countries are meeting here in Washington to chart out a plan to battle global warming and address growing worries over climate change.

FINANCE: US Cancels Liberia’s Debt, But Billions Pending

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf gained major ground in a campaign to cancel her country's debts with the announcement Tuesday that Washington will write off some 358 million dollars in debts incurred by Liberia's previous undemocratic regimes.

FINANCE: Rich Nations Prodded on “Illegitimate” Lending

Industrialised countries that knowingly lent billions of dollars in "irresponsible" debts to corrupt and dictatorial regimes in poor nations should cancel the debts and reconsider their harmful policies, a new study says.

CORRUPTION: Bank’s Graft Crusade Exaggerated, Critics Say

Publicising a self-styled crusade against corruption, the World Bank says it is successfully stepping up its campaign against graft, probing more than 400 cases over the last two years alone and barring dozens of companies and individuals from future World Bank contracts. But critics doubt the scope of the claims.

CORRUPTION: Bank’s Graft Crusade Exaggerated, Critics Say

Publicising a self-styled crusade against corruption, the World Bank says it is successfully stepping up its campaign against graft, probing more than 400 cases over the last two years alone and barring dozens of companies and individuals from future World Bank contracts. But critics doubt the scope of the claims.

FINANCE: “Double Majority” Votes Prescribed for Ailing IMF

As more countries race to escape its tutelage, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been advised to implement a "double majority voting system" to salvage its teetering global standing by reforming its "democratic deficit".

TRADE: Play by the Rules, Washington Tells China

The United States said Friday it is taking China before the World Trade Organisation to complain about Beijing's use of "illegal subsidies".

TRADE: Play by the Rules, Washington Tells China

The United States said Friday it is taking China before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to complain about Beijing's use of "illegal subsidies".

PERU: Amazonian Communities Fight New Oil Wells

Conservation groups are warning international investors that a Peruvian government offer to explore for oil in pristine Amazon land is fraught with risks, lacks community support and violates international laws protecting indigenous communities.

TRADE-US: Putting the Brakes on “Fast Track” Powers

U.S. President George W. Bush has called on Congress to renew a long-time provision giving the White House broad authority to rapidly negotiate and sign trade pacts, but which many labour unions and citizen advocacy groups say have denied the public, and Congress, sufficient time to grasp their implications.

CORRUPTION: More U.S. Money Wasted in Iraq, Audit Finds

Dozens of millions of dollars originally slated for the reconstruction and security of Iraq have been squandered on luxury items like an Olympic-sized swimming pool, VIP trailers, and buildings that were never or rarely used, a U.S. government watchdog says.