POLITICS-AFRICA: Champagne Tastes on Beer Money?

It was billed as a summit where a new future for Africa would be unveiled. African Union chief Alpha Oumar Konare laid out a 1.7 billion dollar plan that would help revitalise the troubled and marginalized continent.

DEVELOPMENT: World’s Poorest Nations on Slippery Slope

The meeting was billed as a major gathering of political and economic leaders - mostly trade and foreign ministers - from the world's 50 poorest nations.

POLITICS: An African Army, for Africans?

As the third annual summit of the African Union (AU) draws closer, the spotlight is falling on the organisation's newest branch: the Peace and Security Council, and its proposed standby force.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Reversing the Medical Brain Drain

The flight of nurses and doctors from South Africa - and other African states - has long been a source of concern for the governments of these countries. And, the advent of AIDS has sharpened fears about the effects of this migration.

DEVELOPMENT: Lesotho Bears Brunt of Difficult Harvest in Southern Africa

The camera zooms in on a woman who is complaining of weakness and a skin rash. "The doctor says I'm not eating enough," she told a South African television station this week, in a news clip shot in the tiny kingdom of Lesotho.

ECONOMY-AFRICA: Be Careful What You Wish For

The 79-member grouping of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries known as the ACP bloc wrapped up its latest summit in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, this week, with delegates expressing a willingness to kick start stalled global trade talks.

ECONOMY: Israeli Pullout From Gaza Won’t Ease Crisis, Bank Warns

A new World Bank report says that the Palestinian economy has suffered one of the worst recessions in modern history under Israel's policy of closing borders and restricting the population's movement, and warns that a new Israeli plan to forfeit some settlements and withdraw from Gaza is not enough to improve the situation.

POLITICS: U.N. Plans to Boost NGOs Come Under Scrutiny

When more than a million demonstrators jammed the streets of London, Berlin, Paris and New York in February last year protesting the imminent U.S.-led military attack on Iraq, the New York Times raved about the growing power of the global anti-war movement.

POLITICS-AFGHANISTAN: No Fair Elections Without Security

While more than 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq continue trying to impose security in advance of the Jun. 30 handover of limited sovereignty to the new Iraqi administration, the security situation in nearby Afghanistan continues to deteriorate.

POLITICS-HAITI: A National Plan Without the People?

Haiti has a new, all-embracing plan aimed at pulling the country out of its economic, social and political rut with new roads and schools, policy changes and millions upon millions of dollars.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Arab Leaders Steal the Show At G8 Summit

Kenyan civil society activist Edward Oyugi says Africa's relations with the developed world amount to the continent holding out a begging bowl. But, African leaders insist they have a partnership with wealthy nations - one based on investment in return for good governance.

AID: U.S. Names Nations Eligible Under New Scheme

The Bush administration has chosen 16 countries to receive aid under a new programme that provides financial assistance for nations that undertake political and economic reforms approved by Washington.

DEVELOPMENT: Netherlands, Denmark ‘Most Committed’

The Netherlands and Denmark received top rankings for the second year in a row in the annual Commitment to Development Index (CDI) designed to measure the degree to which the world's wealthiest countries pursue policies that benefit the planet's poorest people.

FINANCE-NIGER: Groups Say Partial Debt Forgiveness Inadequate

International creditors of the African nation of Niger have agreed to cancel 1.2 billon dollars of its debt over time under a controversial debt relief scheme, rewarding the country for its pro-free market economic restructuring plan.

POLITICS-EU: War on Terror ‘Threatens Aid’

A rush of new EU proposals seek to link aid to the fight against terrorism. Inevitably, a group of leading non-governmental organisations have objected to the moves.

DEVELOPMENT: Tourism Can Tackle Poverty

The World Tourism Organisation is urging multilateral development assistance agencies to recognise tourism as an important instrument to tackle poverty.

DEVELOPMENT: More Promises Planned for Global Poverty

The international community has served up a rash of new proposals to fund poverty alleviation, but at least two prior undertakings have failed to get off the ground, say diplomats, senior U.N. officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

U.S.: Foreign Aid Budget Takes on Cold War Cast

If the "war on terror'' is beginning to look increasingly like the Cold War, then President George W. Bush's fiscal year (FY) 2005 foreign-aid request will not change that impression.

DEVELOPMENT: Globalisation Should Pick Up Hunger Tab

The globalisation process generates more than enough resources to finance programmes to fight hunger and poverty, states the initiative announced here Friday by Brazil's president, with backing from other countries and the United Nations.

FINANCE: Private Money Returns to Developing Nations

Private capital flows to so-called "emerging markets" rebounded strongly last year over 2002 levels, pulled up by low interest rates in rich countries and better economic policies in developing nations, says a global group of financial firms.

POLITICS: Squeezed Japan Threatens Cuts to U.N. Agencies

Faced with an increase in its mandatory contributions to the 2004-05 U.N. budget, Japan plans to cut voluntary contributions to more than a dozen U.N. development agencies and international humanitarian organisations worldwide.