DEVELOPMENT: IBSA Summit a “Political Endorsement” for Future Plans

A slew of co-operation agreements emerged from the second IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) summit in Pretoria, South Africa, this week.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank Chief Vows "Inclusive" Globalisation

Robert Zoellick, the World Bank president, pledged on Wednesday his agency would ensure that the world's poorest people share in the benefits of economic globalisation.

G8: Few Concrete Steps Proposed for Darfur

This week's summit in Paris on the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region broke up with few concrete steps towards a rapid solution, analysts say.

DEVELOPMENT: G8, G5 Or G4? A Tough Choice for India

India, which was invited to the G8 summit at Heiligendamm in Germany as one of five 'outreach' nations from the global South, is disillusioned with the countries of the North. It is toying with a proposal by another 'outreach' member, Brazil, to constitute a new select group that meets independently of the G8.

Q&A: “Too Few African Governments Have Had the Guts to Say ‘No'”

While Kofi Annan was the United Nations' secretary-general, he handpicked Eveline Herfkens to be the executive coordinator of the Millennium Campaign, a body which mobilises support for the achievement of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Herfkens had previously worked as the Dutch minister of international development and as an executive director at the World Bank.

ENERGY-US: Senate Plan Scales Down Fossil Fuel Use

The U.S. Senate began debate on a complex package of energy legislation this week that is running head-on into the politics of global warming.

G8-AFRICA: Shortfall on Help in AIDS Fight ‘Devastating’

Although the Group of Eight industrialised nations agreed at their summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, to allocate 60 billion dollars to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa, health activists say the treatment targets are much lower than originally pledged, which is "devastating news", especially for the millions of people with HIV/AIDS.

G8: Much Talk, Too Few Results

This year's summit of the G8 heads of government will likely be remembered as a "how not to" organise such an event, for the contrast between the expectations it raised and its negligible accomplishments, and for its enormous security costs.

AFRICA: G8 Has Yet to Deliver on Aid Promises – World Bank

The industrialised nations of the Group of Eight are failing on the promises made in their previous summits to help Africa's economic development and to push for poverty alleviation for those struggling to survive on less than a dollar per day, say World Bank experts and development activists.

G8: Health Over Intellectual Property Rights, Says G5

The Group of Eight industrialised countries suffered a setback Friday in its plan to strengthen intellectual property rights through "promoting innovation - protecting innovation" when the five developing world's leaders - China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico - forced a key change in the final statement.

G8: Summit Falls Short on Africa Aid, Hedge Fund Regulation

The Group of Eight industrialised countries (G8) agreed to allocate 60 billion dollars in new aid to Africa in "the coming years", to beef up the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and to improve primary education across the continent.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Emerging G5 Take Counter-Proposal to G8

A coalition of the major developing countries - China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico - has a plan to fight climate change that will be presented here Friday as an alternative to the "watered-down" approach announced Thursday by the Group of Eight industrialised countries.

CLIMATE CHANGE: US, Russian Reticence Leaves Loophole in G8 Deal

The agreement reached by the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries on halving greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050 is only a rhetorical breakthrough, for the United States and Russia only accept "to consider seriously" to join the other group members in the effort.

RUSSIA: Putin to Stand Firm at G8 Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to reaffirm his disagreement with Washington's view of Russian democracy, reiterate objections to the proposed U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe and give more meaningful explanations on the rules of the international community at the Group of Eight (G8) summit under way in Germany this week, analysts say.

DEVELOPMENT: The ‘Good Guys’ Chastise the G8 ‘Villains’

"You shouldn't have any doubts, the good guys are us," says Patrick, 20, dressed in jeans, t-shirt, and a sport jacket, with a flamboyant pink Mohawk haircut, as he reads a pamphlet on development aid for Africa.

G8: India Stonewalls Demand for Emission Cuts

India is likely to cut a sorry figure on climate change issues during and after the G8 summit at Heiligendamm in Germany.

G8: Cacophony on Global Warming

The summit of the heads of government of the eight most industrialised countries opened Wednesday in this Baltic seaside resort, surrounded by impressive security measures, and dominated by a total cacophony on the group's efforts to curb climate change.

G8: Despite Differences, Mexico Comfortable as G5 Emerging Power

The Mexican government says it feels comfortable forming part of the five countries identified by the world's richest nations as the "emerging powers." However, it has marked differences and even conflicts with China and Brazil, two other members of the so-called Group of Five (G5)

G8: Poverty Reduction and Climate Change Inextricably Linked, Say Activists

In the final hours before this week's Group of Eight (G8) summit gets underway in Germany, activists have underscored the need for progress with both climate change and poverty alleviation - key items on the meeting's agenda - for there to be real improvement in Africa's living conditions.

G8-BRAZIL: Guest Brings Biofuel Arguments to Summit

As a guest at the G8 summit this week in Germany, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will present arguments to convince the leaders of the world's eight richest countries of the importance of biofuels in the fight against global warming.

G8: U.S. Again the Odd Man Out on Climate

When leaders of the world's most advanced economies - also known as the Group of Eight (G8) - tried to set new targets to fight climate change at their summit in Britain in 2005, the United States balked.