The World Bank has said many developing countries have been hurt by Europe’s debt crisis and there is a need to put schemes in place to cushion its impact on the poor.

THE European Commission is pushing for a coordinated capital injection for banks to shield them from the fallout of a potential Greek default as Germany urges each country to prepare its own blueprint.

The world’s major economic powers are pledging to launch a bold effort to deal with a chronic slowdown in growth and a European debt crisis that are threatening to push the global economy into another recession.

Shell-shocked investors were spared further heavy losses today as stock markets held firm in the wake of yesterday’s bloodbath.

World stock markets are being pushed to 13-month lows with fears of another global recession and talk of governments stepping in to soothe nerves.

INTERNATIONAL stock markets spiralled downwards yesterday, on the back of a less-than-favourably received fresh stimulus package put forward by US economic policymakers and dire warnings from the World Bank.

GENDER equality is shrewd economics as well as a human right, the World Bank said yesterday, in a report that showed countries with better opportunities for women can boost productivity and development.

The head of the International Monetary Fund has called for bold and collective action to combat a slowing global economy and a worsening European debt crisis.

THE head of the World Bank says the world has entered a new economic dangerzone and that Europe, Japan and the US all need to make hard decisions to avoid dragging down the global economy.

European governments need to restructure their economies to restore the confidence of financial markets as the global economy moves into a new danger zone, the head of the World Bank said today.

The leaders of Germany and France are meeting today to discuss how to get the eurozone’s 17 countries to work together to address Europe’s debt crisis.

The chief of the World Bank has criticised the economic leadership in the US and Europe, saying the global stock markets are entering a "new danger zone".

THE loss of market confidence in economic leadership in the US and Europe, coupled with a fragile recovery, have pushed markets into a new danger zone, something policy-makers have to take seriously, according to the head of the World Bank.

A top opposition figure urged the international community to use force to oust Laurent Gbagbo from Ivory Coast’s presidency after the disputed election.

The G20 summit was set to open in Seoul today amid worries over protectionism and currency wars.

MINISTERS from around the world yesterday began a final push for a UN deal to protect nature, urged by the World Bank to value the benefits of forests, oceans and rivers on economies and human welfare.

The head of the World Bank is warning that global leaders must defuse currency tensions before they get worse, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Great Depression.

THE global financial crisis could become “a human and development calamity” for many poor countries, according to the World Bank, which urged donor nations to speed delivery of money they have pledged and consider giving more.

The steep global financial crisis risks turning into “a human and development calamity” for many poor countries, the World Bank said as it urged donor nations to speed up delivery of money they have already pledged and consider giving more.

New York: US consumers’ mood grew less grim in March, according to a survey, while the latest figures showed the US trade deficit narrowed in January to its smallest in more than six years.

The European Union will not be the “sole banker” of a world trade deal, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned this afternoon.

Up to €12.6bn may be needed each year to increase food production and fight hunger caused by soaring fuel and food prices, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said today.

The UN today launched a task force aimed at tackling the global food crisis caused by soaring prices.

SOUTH AFRICA’S President Thabo Mbeki, and finance ministers in Britain and Germany have called for conclusion of a world trade deal in order to reduce food prices.

SCIENTISTS from the European Environment Agency have called for a halt to plans to increase the share of biofuels used in transport, to which EU leaders have committed themselves.

President George Bush has released $200m (€249) in emergency aid to help nations where surging food prices have worsened hunger and sparked violent protests.

It is up to Africa to help Kenya resolve a dispute over elections that has sparked spiralling violence, the African Union chief said as the continent’s leaders converged in Ethiopia for a summit.

International Monetary Fund managing director Rodrigo de Rato will step down in October, following upheaval at the helm of sister institution, the World Bank.

Robert Zoellick, US President George Bush’s choice to run the World Bank, is embarking on a government-paid global tour – hitting Africa, Europe and Latin America – as the United States seeks to mend relationships strained by the rocky tenure of the bank’s outgoing president.

Robert Zoellick, who has held top jobs in the Treasury and State departments under George Bush, is the White House’s choice to be the next World Bank president.

Robert Zoellick, a nimble negotiator who has criss-crossed the globe as President George Bush’s trade chief and as the number two US diplomat, is the White House’s choice for the next World Bank presidency.

US PRESIDENT George Bush has chosen Robert Zoellick, a one-time US trade representative and former senior official at the state department, to lead the World Bank.

President George Bush has chosen Robert Zoellick, a former US trade representative and State Department deputy chief, to lead the World Bank, a senior administration official said tonight.

North Korea has apparently finished loading fuel into a long-range ballistic missile, Bush administration officials said today as signs continued that the reclusive communist state will soon test a weapon that could reach the US.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas tonight said he would open a dialogue with Hamas leaders within a week in a bid to end violence that has rocked the Gaza Strip.

Two of the three rebel groups in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region are refusing to sign a peace plan today, jeopardising efforts to end the bloodbath that has cost at least 180,000 lives.

Sudan appeared ready today to agree to disarm Arab militias in Darfur and to accept more rebels into its security forces, key concessions that could clear the way for real progress at the Darfur peace talks.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese people marched through Khartoum protesting against plans to deploy UN peacekeepers in conflict-torn Darfur.

Senior US and Chinese officials today discussed how best to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme even as China indicated a preference for diplomacy not UN sanctions against Tehran.

New German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier meets with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today and is expected to bring up reports that the CIA set up secret jails in some European nations.

China and the US moved into a third day of high-level meetings today in talks that could help defuse brewing trade and military tensions.

A US-LED plan to develop clean-energy technologies was met with caution by critics in Asia yesterday, who claimed it was a ploy to undo the Kyoto pact, the binding accord on controlling global warming that Washington refuses to sign.

A suicide car bomber drove up to a US vehicle crowded with Iraqi children and detonated his vehicle today, killing one American soldier and at least seven Iraqi children, the US military said.