EGYPT: Tall Claims Only Lower Confidence

Following the volatile reaction of international markets to the U.S. financial meltdown, Egyptian officialdom has hastened to reassure a skittish public that the local economy would be spared the worst effects of the global crisis. Many independent commentators, however, are not so sure.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Window of Opportunity Closing Rapidly

The global financial crisis has pushed climate change off the front pages despite new evidence that it is happening faster and with stronger impacts than previous projections, a new report warns.

ECONOMY-CUBA: “Impossible to Escape Impact” of Crisis – Experts

After three years of high growth, uncertainty is hovering over the Cuban economy once again, although experts are not yet ready to predict exactly what impact the current global financial turmoil will have on the island.

ECONOMY: Asia-EU Summit to Address ‘Financial Tsunami’

Cast in the role of global saviour in the unfolding financial turmoil, China is playing host to a meeting of Asian and European leaders in Beijing this week that is expected to castigate the Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism and press for a reshaped global economic order.

ECONOMY: Rich-Poor Divide Worst Among Rich Countries

The "American Dream" of upward social mobility appears to have emigrated from its birthplace in the United States to northern Europe, according to a major new report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the growth of economic equality over the past 20 years.

ECONOMY: Usual Suspects Eyeing Zimbabwe for Massive Deregulation

As the global financial crisis unfolds and more questions are asked about excessive deregulation, the World Bank and others are preparing economic policy prescriptions that will throw open Zimbabwe’s economy to the whims of the world markets.

ENVIRONMENT: Crisis Could Ease Pressure, But Not for Long

The global economic recession or slowdown that will result from the financial crisis that broke out in the United States could bring some benefits for the environment in the short-term - such as a reduction in power consumption and in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest -, but the overall effect may turn out to be negative in the long run.

ECONOMY-US: No Golden Parachutes for the Working Poor

High-rolling Wall Street executives have won pay bonanzas in recent years while the lives of millions of working poor families have gotten worse, a new study shows.

Q&A: “Profit Is Enemy Number One of the Environment”

The global financial debacle is evidence that capitalism "is more alive than ever" and can only be stopped by policies that extinguish all forms of profit or by the end of life on Earth, says Chilean professor and activist Marcel Claude.

ECONOMY: Threat of ‘Major Global Recession’ Tied to Bird Flu

A severe outbreak of flu could kill tens of millions of people and spur a "major global recession", the World Bank is warning world leaders preoccupied with financial, food, and fuel crises.

ECONOMY-US: No Joy in Hooverville

With a massive spike in the number of foreclosures and evictions over the past two years, communities throughout the U.S. have witnessed the sprouting of tent cities - many of them home to once middle-class citizens fallen victim to the economic downturn.

ENVIRONMENT: A Green Lining in Market Meltdown?

Clean and green technologies may end up a big winner in the current global financial crisis, say investment professionals.

POLITICS-US: Much Ado About ACORN

As Election Day in the United States draws nigh, attacks from Sen. John McCain's campaign and its Republican supporters have focused attention on the activities of a national low- and moderate-income advocacy group, accusing it of everything from engaging in widespread, systematic voter fraud to causing the U.S.-turned-global financial crisis.

ECONOMY-US: Banks Reap Whirlwind of Govt Spending

The George W. Bush administration handed 125 billion dollars to nine of Wall Street's richest banks, but this will do little to help the economy that is crumbling around ordinary U.S. citizens, independent experts and activists say.

ECONOMY-JAPAN: Hurting From Global Recession

Japan’s economy, on an upward trend for several years, has been hit badly by the global credit crisis. As Tokyo stock prices posted its second largest drop on record, anxiety spread of a global recession.

ECONOMY-US: Terms Secret for Bank Hired to Manage Bailout

The George W. Bush administration has hired a Wall Street firm to lead its 700-billion-dollar bailout plan, but how much the U.S. is paying the firm is being kept secret.

WORLD FOOD DAY: Eating Less, Paying More

Despite wall-to-wall media coverage of the financial crisis rocking the U.S. and, increasingly, other financial systems around the world, a crisis with a larger scope is brewing with little attention.

FINANCE: Meltdown Could Derail U.N. Development Agenda

When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was asked by reporters whether the U.N.'s cash-strapped development agenda would survive the global financial crisis, he pointed out that only last month world leaders meeting at the United Nations had pledged about 16 billion dollars towards fighting poverty and hunger, as spelled out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

DEVELOPMENT: Turning South-South Rhetoric into Action

While leaders of developing countries have long talked about strengthening cooperation amongst themselves, some say little has been done to translate this into action. At a meeting of the third India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Business Summit in New Delhi, however, discussions were all about turning intent into enterprise.

DEVELOPMENT: A Billion Hungry People Need Rescue Plan Too

Relief for the world's hungry remains a distant prospect, with this year's "Global Hunger Index" (GHI) attesting that even before the ongoing food crisis, 33 countries had "alarming" or "extremely alarming" levels of hunger.

ECONOMY: Poor Sidelined in Rush to Contain Financial Crisis

The worst market crisis since the 1930s has dominated financial leaders' talks here, stoking misgivings that the world's poor are being overlooked.