World Bank Group

Palestinians in West Bank's Area C suffer in limbo

2013-05-18 18:45:00

MALEH, West Bank — In remote Palestinian villages of the northern Jordan Valley, children read by gas lamp, and water must be purchased from miles away, even when electricity lines and water pipes to Israeli settlements run directly past their...

Commencement speakers: Conservatives need not apply

2013-05-19 00:00:00

We have once again entered the college commencement season, which means we'll soon be reading about uplifting graduation speeches delivered by prominent Americans. Or at least by prominent liberal Americans. It's becoming increasingly apparent that...

Obama sings Mexico's praises, but some Mexicans hear flat notes

2013-05-03 13:00:00

MEXICO CITY — After President Obama’s upbeat speech in Mexico on Friday, many in attendance said they were flattered by the description of their country, but others said they hardly recognized the place he had just described. “[That...

Smashed U.S. cars get second chance in Afghanistan

2013-05-06 05:00:00

HERAT, Afghanistan — They sit in the sun harboring their lost histories, their forgotten dreams, their traces of funerals, graduations and stolen kisses. On dusty windshields, insurance stickers from Travelers and State Farm bear witness to wrecks...

Obama's sunny speech in Mexico raises eyebrows

2013-05-03 18:08:00

MEXICO CITY — President Obama on Friday painted a sunny picture of a modern Mexico emerging from its past troubles, an attempt at rebranding that serves the political aims of both governments but clashes with the realities of a country beset by...

Good fences make safe lions

2013-04-25 00:00:00

During the 1960s, when most African nature reserves were being established, lions tended to be born free. But today, freedom doesn't always serve them well. Fifty years ago, human population densities were low in the areas where lions roamed. But...

Europe austerity strategy is hurting growth, IMF says

2013-04-19 00:00:00

WASHINGTON — Britain and the Eurozone are steadfastly sticking to austerity measures despite increasing evidence that such action alone isn't working to revive their economies and is dragging down global growth. Such persistence, analysts said,...

Palestinian Authority prime minister resigns

2013-04-13 13:50:00

JERUSALEM -- Embattled Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resigned late Saturday after struggling for years against political rivals and lackluster public support. Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who in recent months had also clashed...

BRICS in the development wall: Competing interests

2013-03-29 02:00:00

Barely a decade old, the BRICS alliance forged to challenge Western-dominated global economic strategy may already have outlived its purpose. The collaborative five-country bloc that came together to create a counterweight to the Group of 7 rich-...

Burkina Faso's film industry reemerges with a populist bent

2013-03-16 09:00:00

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — The film festival crowd had filled the last seats in the Cine Neerwaya and, when there was no room left, sat four abreast in the aisles. The opening credits hardly dimmed the buzz in the theater; for those who missed a...

Hugo Chavez's legacy

2013-03-07 00:00:00

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died Tuesday of cancer at age 58, was beloved and reviled, bombastic and provocative, a flamboyant figure who was vastly influential in his country and throughout the region. The former paratrooper-turned-populist...

A.W. 'Tom' Clausen dies at 89; longtime Bank of America leader

2013-01-23 22:45:00

A.W. "Tom" Clausen, a no-nonsense Midwesterner who led San Francisco-based Bank of America before and after serving as president of the World Bank, died Monday at a hospital in Burlingame, Calif. He was 89. The cause was complications from pneumonia,...

Saalem, 13, smiles at a plastic refuse center where he and others bring discarded plastic trash to be recycled in Herat. Saalem earns the equivalent of 30 cents US for every kilo of plastic he brings here.

2012-10-03 00:00:00