James Wolfensohn, an investment banker who helped straighten out the finances of major American cultural institutions and served as president of the World Bank, died Wednesday at the age of 86. World Bank Group President David Malpas paid tribute, saying that Wolfensohn “sharpened its focus on poverty reduction and redoubled its efforts to combat corruption, […]

British Chancellor Rishi Sunak has faced a furious backlash after announcing he plans to cut the overseas aid budget from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent until the financial situation in Britain improves. A total of 10 billion pounds (13.3 billion dollars) is going to be handed out in 2021 to help fund humanitarian […]

Sudan’s former prime minister and top opposition figure Sadiq al-Mahdi died from a coronavirus infection on Thursday, his party said. The 84-year-old was the country’s last democratically elected prime minister before he was toppled in 1989 by now-ousted president Omar al-Bashir in an Islamist-backed military coup. The leader of the moderate Islamist National Umma Party […]

Ethiopia’s prime minister is rejecting growing international consensus for dialogue and a halt to deadly fighting in the Tigray region as “unwelcome,” saying his country will handle the conflict on its own as a 72-hour surrender ultimatum runs out on Wednesday. The Tigray regional capital, Mekele, remained quiet but tense as sunset approached. But a […]

On a day of grace and grievance, President-elect Joe Biden summoned Americans on Wednesday to join in common purpose against the coronavirus pandemic and their political divisions while the man he will replace stoked the fading embers of his campaign to “turn the election over.” Biden, in a Thanksgiving-eve address to the nation, put the […]