News from Around the World

What will it take to fix flailing SDG funding?

UNITED NATIONS – The international community is not acting fast enough to mobilize finance for the Sustainable Development Goals, experts gathered at the Financing for Development Forum told Devex.

What to watch in US Congress in 2019

WASHINGTON — On Capitol Hill, the new year brings with it new leadership of key committees, a divided Congress, a few development-related bills likely to be considered, and a fair amount of uncertainty about what’s in store after a period of bipartisan cooperation on development issues.

What is the G20 summit, and what do world leaders talk about?

World leaders from 19 countries – and the European Union – are meeting in Osaka, Japan, from Friday.

They are the "Group of 20" – G20 for short – but what exactly is the summit about, and why is it important?

What is the G20?

The G20 is an annual meeting of leaders from the countries with the largest and fastest-growing economies. Its members account for 85% of the world's GDP, and two-thirds of its population.

What Christine Lagarde Brings to the ECB: Flexibility

For seven hours, European finance ministers in a windowless room argued over how to keep a government-debt crisis from infecting eurozone economies, and the meeting threatened to fall into disarray.

Then Christine Lagarde stood up to speak.

Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó calls for uprising against Nicolás Maduro

Juan Guaidó, Venezuela’s opposition leader, called for an uprising against the government of Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday and indicated he had military support.

US-China Trade War Starts to Drag on Asian Growth

For months, as the trade war between the US and China escalated, other export-reliant Asia-Pacific economies watched and worried about a knock-on effect on their sales.

In recent days that contagion has become real, as China’s growth slowdown hit home around the region. Asian companies, economists and governments have begun to raise the alarm about the risk of lower Chinese demand for everything from Australian iron ore to South Korean cars and Thai beach vacations.

US Treasury officially labels China a currency manipulator

The Trump administration has officially labelled China a “currency manipulator” after the Chinese central bank allowed the renminbi to fall below a key threshold, marking a dramatic escalation in the trade war between the two economic powers.

The US Treasury announced its decision after financial markets closed on Monday. It came just hours after President Donald Trump again accused China of weakening its currency to create an unfair trade advantage.

US pledges additional $48M for Venezuela crisis

WASHINGTON — United States Vice President Mike Pence announced an additional $48 million in U.S. funding for the regional response to Venezuelan refugees and migrants on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

US Federal Reserve intervenes for third time to ease money market strains

Pressure is mounting on the Federal Reserve to ease the strain on US money markets after the central bank was forced to intervene on Thursday for the third time using a type of operation it last resorted to during the financial crisis a decade ago.

UK's Corbyn says he will try to renegotiate Brexit deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said after meeting the EU’s Brexit negotiator that he will push ahead with Brexit and seek to renegotiate the terms of the divorce deal.