Officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said they considered the privatization of the Egyptian state-owned banks not important as the country's banking system depends largely on these banks' power and competition, on the contrary the privatization may yield adverse outcomes if the government gives up these significant tool in controlling the monetary policy.

When prices for a farmer's harvest fall, as they have in recent years, despair haunts rural families and communities. Farmers invest less in their own land and children leave home, searching for a better life in cities. But farmers, especially those in the poorest nations, are not just battling a global oversupply of grain. In a distressing number of cases, they are fighting against the financial power of the world's richest governments.

The Group of 77, a coalition of 133 developing nations, is reiterating its demand for a new investigation into charges of racial discrimination in the recruitment and promotion of staffers in the 13,000-strong UN Secretariat.

Tobacco-related deaths in the developing world will outstrip the toll due to HIV and become the single largest preventable cause of death by 2020, according to new research.

Sends books and periodicals from UK to partner distributors in developing countries.

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