DEVELOPMENT: Privatisation No Answer to Water Scarcity – UN

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sceptical that privatisation of the world's water supplies will help resolve the problems facing more than 1.2 billion people globally who have little or no access to safe drinking water.

DEVELOPMENT-EU: NGOs Fear Water Privatisation

Civil society groups are calling on the EU to ensure that a new initiative does not further water privatisation in developing countries.

THAILAND: Protests Persist over Privatisation of Power Utility

A continuing wave of protests against the privatisation of Thailand's state-run power utility is a formidable test of the government's policy to sell some major state enterprises to private investors.

THAILAND: Labour Flexes Muscle with Anti-Privatisation Protests

A move to privatise Thailand's state-run power utility has, within the space of a week, prompted the country's labour movement to mobilise tens of thousands of protestors into street demonstrations, unprecedented during Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra three years in power.

EGYPT: Nascent Activism Scores Rare Win

In a rare show of resistance against commercial interests, a newly formed group of anti-corporate globalisation activists in Egypt has forced two of the world's largest mobile phone companies to back down on recent prices hikes.

ECONOMY-NICARAGUA: Debt Forgiveness Has Its Price

The write-off of 80 percent of Nicaragua's debt, to be ratified by the multilateral credit institutions Wednesday, will be a Pyrrhic victory for the Nicaraguan people, say experts, warning there will be little or no benefit from the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Debt Initiative.

COMMONWEALTH: Govts Increase Funds for Civil Society

Heads of government have accepted an increase in funding for civil society initiatives through an increase in the budget for the Commonwealth Foundation.

COLOMBIA: Poor and Rich Alike Complain About Privatised Electricity

Six years after its transfer to private hands, CORELCA, Colombia's third leading electric company, has come under fire for its high rates and breakdowns in its distribution network.

Special Series/BRAZIL: Foreign Direct Investment in Downward Spiral

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Brazil plunged this year, accentuating a trend that has already led many foreign-owned firms to return to the hands of national capital, and which may even reverse several privatisations of public enterprises.

ENERGY: Laissez Faire Legacy Leaves US, Canada Cursing the Dark

Pundits blaming last week's vast blackout in parts of the United States and Canada on an antiquated "third world" power grid seem to have forgotten that deregulation - which many analysts say spawned the crisis - has been Washington's mantra to developing countries for years.

Special Series/ARGENTINA: Water and Sewage Privatisation Gone Sour

Ten years after the privatisation of the sewage and water systems in the Argentine capital, many areas of the greater Buenos Aires have not yet been connected to the water and sewer mains, and services have not improved, despite the fact that rates have doubled.

Special Series/ARGENTINA: Privatised Phone Services Better, but Pricey

The privatisation of Argentina's state-run telephone enterprise in 1990 - now under review by the Néstor Kirchner administration - has meant more and better services, but also a sharp increase in rates. And the phone companies are pushing for yet another hike.

Special Series/ARGENTINA: An Airline for a Dollar

The sale of the state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas (AA) to Spain's Iberia for a symbolic 1.54 dollars in 1990 has come under heavy criticism ever since, but President Néstor Kirchner, who took office two months ago and has moved quickly to make big changes in some areas, will leave the matter alone - for now.

ECONOMY-ISRAEL: Now to the Struggle Within

Vicki Knafo began the 203-kilometre walk to Jerusalem two days after the state cut her monthly welfare benefits as a single mother by half.

ECONOMY-SERBIA: A New Discovery, That It Pays to Work

Many Serbs say that little has improved for them since Slobodan Milosevic fell from power almost three years ago. But some are discovering opportunities not there before.

CULTURE-MALAWI: Young Women Leaders Rise Up To Challenges

-Faced with high prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection, environmental degradation and sluggish economic growth, young women professionals in Malawi have put their heads together and intensified efforts to bring about a major paradigm shift.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Change Taking Root, If Slowly, Says Book

The winds of political change seem to be sweeping through Malaysia and for the first time, according to a new book that says the Malay middle class are increasingly involved in the movement for greater democratic reforms and, in turn, challenging the government.

ECONOMY-JORDAN: Peace Dividend Brings no Gains

Eight years after Jordan was promised prosperity for signing a peace deal with Israel, many find that economic conditions have worsened.

POLITICS: U.S.-Backed Iraqi Officials Seek Development Aid

A team of Iraqi officials who flew into New York early this week to plead their case for international development aid came under heavy grilling from a group of sceptical U.N. correspondents.

Special Series/ARGENTINA: Reviewing Ten Years of Privatisations

The Argentine government's decision to review the contracts under which public enterprises and utilities were privatised in the 1990s amounts to opening a Pandora's box: all kinds of irregularities could come to light, according to analysts.

IRAQ: Arabs Challenge U.S. Plans to Open Nation to Multinationals

Arab business and political leaders on Sunday challenged U.S. plans to transform Iraq's economy into a free market, ''open for business'' to the world's multinational companies.