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.

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.

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

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.

The US and Britain pressed Sudan’s government and Darfur rebels to meet today’s deadline for a peace deal, even as ground units stepped up fighting that has killed at least 180,000 people and left millions more homeless.

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 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.

Iraqi troops are ready to take control of some cities as a first step toward sending home American and other foreign soldiers, Iraq’s prime minister said. But he rejected any timetable for a pull-out.

Policemen were dismantling what appeared to be a decoy roadside bomb near Kirkuk today when another bomb exploded, killing 12 officers and injuring three others, police said.

DONORS promised $4.5 billion (€3.5bn) yesterday to help Sudan recover after Africa's longest civil war, but Washington told Khartoum to end atrocities in Darfur or risk a slide "back into the depths".

The EU and the US agreed today to settle their dispute over Airbus and Boeing subsidies through bilateral talks and not at the World Trade Organisation.

THE US and the EU started a multi-billion euro transatlantic trade war yesterday, alleging unfair subsidies for Europe’s Airbus and America’s Boeing, two aviation industry giants.

The US and the EU set up multi billion pound transatlantic trade war today alleging unfair subsidies for Europe’s Airbus and America’s Boeing, two aviation industry giants.

US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said today the US was willing to eliminate export subsidies, provided major world economies like the European Union and Japan are willing to do the same.

The Bush administration has requested formation of a World Trade Organisation dispute panel as the US pressed ahead with a case against the European Union over genetically modified food.

US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said the US is proposing that countries should cut domestic agricultural subsidies to 5% of GDP.