It seemed a good idea at the time. The SF Marathon starts at 5.30am, so we would stay at David's appartment in the city, and I would cycle to the start. It was, after all, only a few miles and mainly downhill. And in any case, this was only a Read more…
The Prime Minister, House of Commons Hansard Debates, 18 March 2003 I have never put the justification for action as regime change. We have to act within the terms set out in resolution 1441—that is our legal base. The Prime Minister, speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, Read more…
David Loyn, the BBC Developing World Correspondent (is there really only one?) is extremely sensible and balanced writing about the politics of aid in Ethiopia today on the BBC News site: Aid thinking moves in policy cycles, and the dogma for now, at least for the big European donors, is Read more…
In Ghana, the primary school gross enrolment rate has risen steadily from 80% in 2002 to 92% in 2005. The abolition of user fees in 2005 – which the government could afford because of debt relief and additional aid – is estimated to have boosted the primary gross enrolment rate Read more…
Santigie Kamara writing in allAfrica.com yesterday may be overstating the case, but only a little: Reports reaching this press indicate that the consultant at the Ministry of Agriculture is a "square peg in a round whole" and yet still he is there, receiving thousands of dollars while our brothers and Read more…
The Times of India reports that the Human Resources Department of the Indian Government is opposed to the proposed $100 laptop HRD contends that spending Rs 450 crore on digital empowerment can be better spent on primary and secondary education. "It is quite obvious that the financial expenditure to be Read more…
According to The World of Shez Today there is a second wind of change blowing across Africa, a trend towards greater democracy and a growing confidence that goes uncovered by the media. Disasters in Somalia, Darfur and West Africa dominate, while transitions to democracy in Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, Read more…
A Primer on Foreign Aid by Steve Radelet, my colleague at the Center for Global Development: Controversies about aid effectiveness go back decades. Some experts charge that aid has enlarged government bureaucracies, perpetuated bad governments, enriched the elite in poor countries, or just been wasted. Others argue that although aid Read more…
Google hails 'impressive' growth Google more than doubled its profits in the second quarter, beating the expectations of analysts. The search giant generated net income of $721m (£390m) in the three months to the end of June, compared with $342m for the corresponding period last year. Google said the "impressive" Read more…
<geek> You may not have heard of service oriented architecture yet; and if you have have, you may think it is just a lot of hype. But if you believe in SOA, you will have noticed that it could be the foundation of a solution to the UK Government's woes Read more…