ENERGY: World Bank Plan Still Favours “Clean” Fossil Fuels

A global energy plan to be released by the World Bank next month risks squandering scarce resources on so-called clean coal technologies and misses bigger investments in renewable energy, but does address gaps in the energy needs of the poor, according to a new analysis by an environmental group.

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/G8 SUMMIT: New Hope in Fighting AIDS

Leading civil society groups are seeing new hope in the fight against AIDS following decisions taken at the G8 summit earlier this month.

G8 SUMMIT: To Germany for Human Rights

Human rights organisations are looking for a place for their cause at the G8 summit in Germany next year after the issue was more or less set aside this year.

INDIA: Mulling Tough Responses to Mumbai Bombings

After securing sympathy and support for fighting terrorism from the G8 grouping of the world's wealthiest countries in St. Petersburg, the Indian government is coming under pressure to harden its response to last week's Mumbai serial bombings, which killed 200 people.

RIGHTS: HIV Is Treatable, It’s the Stigma That’s Fatal

When thousands of delegates from around the world gather in Toronto next month for the Sixteenth International AIDS Conference, a leading human rights group has urged them to consider the following cases.

G8 SUMMIT: U.S., Russia, In New Nuclear Agreement

After the decades of a nuclear standoff during the Cold War, the United States and Russia, the biggest remnant of the old Soviet Union, are now moving towards nuclear cooperation.

G8 SUMMIT: Putin Faces a New Generation of Ideas

It wasn't such a junior G8 summit after all when President Vladimir Putin dropped in.

/REPEAT/EDUCATION: More Schools, but Many Children Aren’t Learning

World Bank investments in education may be sending more children to school across the world, but the quality of learning is poor and many children are not gaining better skills as originally hoped, the Bank's own watchdog says.

G8 SUMMIT: NGO Approval Tinged With Dissatisfaction

Satisfaction mingled with disappointment as civil society organisations analysed the outcome of the G8 summit that concluded Monday in St Petersburg.

MIDEAST: G8 Condemns Violence, And Does No More

Leaders of the G8 countries agreed to deliver a strong message Monday condemning bloodshed and military actions in the Middle East.

G8 SUMMIT: Live Up To Your Promises, NGOs Say

Civil society organisations and a Euro-parliamentarian have tabled a wish list to G8 leaders ahead of the summit that begins Saturday in St. Petersburg.

G8: Busy Agenda but Few Decisions Expected

Leaders of the eight most industrialised nations will gather this weekend in St. Petersburg, Russia with energy security, the critical state of global trade talks, infectious diseases, education and other vital issues for the world economy on their agenda.

RUSSIA: A Step Closer to WTO

The G8 summit in St. Petersburg this week is expected to take Russian membership of the World Trade Organisation a step closer.

G8 SUMMIT: Energy Security Yes, But Climate Security Too

Legislators from industrialised and emerging countries want the G8 heads of government to address climate change, clean energy and sustainable development when they gather next Monday in St Petersburg.

POLITICS-US: Requiem for Bush’s Unipolar Dream?

A week before the Group of Eight (G8) summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, U.S. President George W. Bush finds his power and authority - both at home and abroad - at their lowest ebb.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Economic Growth the Only Way’

Developing countries will have to grow out of poverty, not merely get aided out of it, says British secretary for the Department for International Development Hilary Benn.

DEVELOPMENT: New Political Push Proposed

The world needs to make globalisation work, and a global forum of 20 heads of government from important industrial and developing countries would be best suited to do so, says Paul Martin, Canada's prime minister until six months ago.

FINANCE: Despite Debt Relief, Poor Nations Back In the Red

A new report by the self-auditing arm of the World Bank has painted a grim picture of the results of a decade-long plan by the Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to give the world's poorest nations debt relief.

BIODIVERSITY: Billions Needed to Win Race Against Species Loss

A two-week international conference on biodiversity here came to an end Friday on a mixed note of hope and despair, with some delegates describing the outcome as a moment to celebrate, but others expressing disappointment with the slow pace of progress in talks on how to implement decisions made some 14 years ago.

DEVELOPMENT: Trade Rules a Stumbling Block to Realising the MDGs

Less than a decade remains for countries to reach the ambitious targets laid out in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - agreed on by global leaders at a summit in 2000.

POLITICS-US: Relations with Russia Moving in “Wrong Direction”

Fifteen years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, bilateral ties between Russia, its successor state, and the United States are "headed in the wrong direction", according to a new report released here this week by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).