FINANCE: World Bank Profits From Poor Countries – Report

The World Bank receives more from developing countries than what it disburses to them says a new report released Tuesday as finance ministers endorsed a controversial new Bank plan to tackle corruption in developing countries.

FINANCE: India Has Reason for Anger at WB-IMF

The unceremonious deportation from Singapore of several prominent Indian critics of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has drawn fresh attention in this country to the autocratic functioning of these financial institutions, now holding their annual meeting in the city-state.

FINANCE: Transparency Begins at Home, WB-IMF Told

Civil society organisations gathered on this island, ahead of the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in neighbouring Singapore, have launched a ‘global charter' demanding transparency from the finance institutions.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: LDC Status Hard to Shake

There were 18 in Africa 35 years ago. There are 34 now - which begs the question: are policies to thin the ranks of the almost three dozen least developed countries (LDCs) on the continent even somewhat effective?

FINANCE: Mass Boycott by NGOs May Yet Shame WB-IMF

Civil society organisations have fired an unprecedented salvo at the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by declaring a boycott of the annual meetings of the two financial powerhouses being held in nearby, authoritarian Singapore.

ECONOMY: IMF, World Bank Face Growing Pressure for Reforms

The state of the global economy and efforts to fine-tune the decision-making process at the World Bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to include a greater voice for developing nations will dominate the lenders' high-profile annual meetings in Singapore next week.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Justice for the Justices

A dark and shameful episode in the history of Malaysia's judiciary, that had lain hidden from public view for 18 years, is finally unravelling as lawyers, judges and rights activists press for an independent investigation into what is still spoken of in hushed tones as the ‘1988 scandal'

FINANCE: IMF-WB Exposed by Ban on NGOs at S’pore Meet

Attempts to stop an International People's Forum (IPF) on the Indonesian island of Batam, planned to coincide with next week's annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Singapore, reflect badly on the finance institutions and expose their ‘anti-people' policies, say forum organizers.

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Sale of Carbon Credits Rise, Amid Complaints

India is leading developing nations in carbon credits, expecting over 2.27 billion US dollars by selling certified emissions reduction units (CER) from approximately 300 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, according to the country's ministry of environment and forests.

CORRUPTION-PERU: Supreme Court Justice for 300 Dollars

The case of a Supreme Court justice in Peru caught red-handed taking a 300 dollar bribe has shaken the country, as the magistrate was sitting on the chamber of the Court that is to try former president Alberto Fujimori, whose regime was riddled with corruption.

PAKISTAN: Corruption Charges Stymie Privatisation Plans

A failed attempt by the government to privatise the Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) may prove dear for Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's ambitious plans to disinvest a substantial part of the country's public sector.

PAKISTAN: Opposition Unity May Force Early Polls

Although a no-trust move against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz failed this week, it has had the effect of galvanising opposition groups to press for early elections and restoration of real democracy in army-ruled Pakistan.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Obama to the Rescue?

"Obama must come now; we need help," 75-year-old William Onyango told IPS about four months ago*, at his store in a remote, western village of Kenya. While the senator from the U.S. state of Illinois may not have arrived as quickly as Onyango was hoping, he is in Kenya now as part of an official tour that also encompasses South Africa, Djibouti and Chad.

GUYANA: Weary of Drugs and Crime, Some Voters Eye New Party

Sitting on a barstool sipping shots of vodka and tonic water, Hardat Singh says he is unsure whether he will vote in the general election set for on Monday.

DEVELOPMENT: Dirty Water Deals Cheat the Poor

Expressing concern over the "pervasiveness of corruption" in the management of water, a coalition of six international non-governmental organisations has created a new global anti-corruption watchdog body: the Water Integrity Network (WIN).

POLITICS-INDIA: Foreign Policy Slips on Iraqi Oil-for-Food Slick

The 'oil-for-food' programme approved by the United Nations for Iraq before its invasion by the United States-led 'Coalition of the Willing' in 2003 has had an improbable and belated impact thousands of miles away.

VIETNAM: Officials Grab Land, Evict Peasants

As this communist country opens its economy to the outside world, it is witnessing a curious phenomenon - misappropriation of land by powerful officials and large-scale evictions of peasants and poor people from their holdings in the name of development.

POLITICS-KENYA: Corrupt Officials May Escape Justice

This week's court ruling clearing former education minister George Saitoti of any wrongdoing in Kenya's Goldenberg scandal has raised fears that other key suspects may follow in Saitoti's footsteps and exonerate themselves from the scandal.

IRAQ: Corruption and Violence Slow Reconstruction – Audit

The much-touted U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq is floundering under threats from rampant corruption and deteriorating security, a U.S. government watchdog says.

PERU: Bank Signals More Funds for Problematic Pipeline

Critics of a controversial pipeline in the Amazon rainforest that has ruptured five times since its inception in 2004 are dismayed that the main public funder of the project is on the verge of giving more money for its second phase despite earlier promises to await the results of audits probing the pipeline's persistent leaks.

MEXICO: Child Sexual Exploitation Fuelled, Protected by Economic Clout

While the Mexican government is touting the imprisonment of businessman Jean Succar, accused of running a child sex ring, as evidence of its tough stance against child sexual exploitation, authorities also admit that the number of minors subjected to such crimes has increased from 16,000 to 20,000 over the last six years.