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The activists at the ONE Campaign are setting their sights on a type of corruption that stymies international development. “Anti-poverty organization ONE is urging leaders of the 20 largest economies to act decisively at an annual summit in November against money laundering, bribery, tax evasion and corruption which it estimates costs the world’s poorest countries more than $1 trillion a year. The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group launched its report on the economic cost of corruption on the developing world on Wednesday in the Australian capital Canberra at a Parliament House event attended by diplomats from the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. ONE is lobbying Australia to use its presidency of the G20 leaders’ summit in the city of Brisbane on Nov. 15-16 to end what it calls a culture of secrecy that allows corruption and criminality to thrive in many countries. (AP http://yhoo.it/1vOmVjo)
And here’s ONE’s report: http://bit.ly/1uBhuAl
Ebola
Nigeria now has 18 Ebola cases, after a fourth case surfaced in Port Harcourt, home to Africa’s biggest oil and gas industry, the health minister said on Wednesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1oDEQkd)
Another American missionary doctor has tested positive for Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia. He is the third American health care worker to contract the virus. (NPR http://n.pr/1oDIkTB)
Decades of corruption, deep-rooted mistrust of government and weak public services in Liberia have hastened the spread of the Ebola virus, and much more needs to be done to bridge a communication gap between government and citizens, say civil society groups and analysts. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1vOfkkA)
Guinea’s government said on Wednesday that Ebola had spread to a previously unaffected region of the country, as U.S. experts warned that the worst ever outbreak of the deadly virus was spiralling out of control in West Africa. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1oDF3E2)
The cost of getting supplies needed to West African countries to get the Ebola crisis under control will be at least $600 million, Dr David Nabarro, the senior United Nations Coordinator for Ebola Disease, told reporters on Wednesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1oDFoX6)
The Ebola outbreak in Africa is beginning to have an impact on agriculture and shipping as far away as Asia, with Thailand’s rice industry among the first to experience a serious impact. (VOA http://bit.ly/1oDJDBX)
A British nurse infected with Ebola while working in Sierra Leone was discharged from a London hospital on Wednesday after recovering from the disease following treatment with the experimental drug ZMapp. http://yhoo.it/1oDOCma
More than 1,900 people have died in the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, marking a major acceleration in fatalities from just over 1,500 last week. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1xbWG83)
Africa
Lesotho’s Prime Minister Thomas Thabane returned to State House in the capital Maseru on Wednesday, four days after he fled to South Africa following an apparent bid by the military to oust him, an aide said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1vOi0yW)
One group is addressing the problem of public health by providing sealed floors to households that once had dirt ones, in Rwanda. (NPR http://n.pr/1vOj7yl)
African leaders are meeting in Nairobi Tuesday to discuss how to tackle terrorism and extremism across the continent. (VOA http://bit.ly/1oDIYAD)
Britain has sent another $50 million to help South Sudanese who are suffering in the young country’s conflict, International Development Minister Lynne Featherstone said at the start of a three-day visit to South Sudan. (VOA http://bit.ly/1vOkWLW)
Ugandan MPs have begun work on reintroducing tough anti-gay legislation, a month after the east African nation’s constitutional court declared a previous law “null and void”, a report said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1vOpim4)
MENA
The International Monetary Fund approved a $553 million loan for Yemen to help the struggling country stabilize its finances and boost growth. http://yhoo.it/1vOmlBY
The UN peacekeeping chief strongly denied on Wednesday allegations from the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief that Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights were ordered to surrender their weapons to Islamist militants who had trapped them.(GMA News http://bit.ly/1uBhalj)
Asia
Police have arrested three men over the suspected rape and murder of a teenager who had protested against village elders’ harassment of her father in India’s east, an officer said. http://yhoo.it/1vOotJY
Activists in Asia warn of a harmful regression in the World Bank’s safeguard policies, claiming that proposed changes being considered this autumn could weaken the rights of indigenous people, and others in danger of displacement and abuse as a result of Bank-funded development projects. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1xbWTrQ)
The Americas
The number of immigrant children caught alone illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States continued to decline in August, according to figures disclosed Wednesday by the Homeland Security Department. (AP http://yhoo.it/WbXxED)
The racist Peruvian television show La Paisana Jacinta loses prime-time slot following a UN admonishment, but racism against indigenous people and African-Peruvians far from eradicated. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1oDy7qf)
A United Nations panel reviewing the US record on racial discrimination has expressed unusually pointed concern over a new pattern of laws it warns is criminalising homelessness. (IPS http://bit.ly/1vOfuZo)
Mass deportations and obstacles to travel are not keeping Hondurans from migrating to the US. (IPS http://bit.ly/1vOfSHf)
US major pharmacy, CVS Caremark, has pulled cigarettes from its shelves a month ahead of schedule. (NPR http://n.pr/1vOiJAa)
Central America’s years of neglect of agriculture, poor water management and lack of planning to help farmers cope with climate change are worsening food shortages caused by a widespread drought, aid agencies say. (TRF http://bit.ly/1oDLl6m)
Opinion/Blogs
With Sewing and Sowing, Self-reliance Blooms in Central Asia (UN Women http://bit.ly/1vOfF6X)
Israel’s Settlement Push Damages Peace Chances (VOA http://bit.ly/1vOl7qC)
Africas economic rise does not reflect reality (Guardian http://bit.ly/1xbWdCR)
Global Prosperity Wonkcast: Unpacking WHO’s Shocking Ebola Maps (CDG http://bit.ly/1xbWx4n)
Who Are You Calling Corrupt? Good Governance Begins at Home (Think Africa Press http://bit.ly/1t0Gno4)
‘Beyond our two minutes’: which international bodies are good/bad at consulting civil society organizations? (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/1u1afDE)
Solving Political and Development Issues in Africa’s Food Security (Development Diaries http://bit.ly/1u1aNt0)
How to (Not) Win Friends and Influence Voters (Cherokee Gothic http://bit.ly/1t0HN1K)
Research/Reports
The Executive Director of the Stockholm International Water Institute Torgny Holmgren said water should be a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal in the UN’s post-205 development agenda. (IPS http://bit.ly/1oDEGJC)
More women are choosing to have bilateral mastectomies when they are diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, even though there’s little evidence that removing both breasts improves their survival compared with more conservative treatments.The biggest study yet on the question has found no survival benefit with bilateral mastectomy compared with breast-conserving surgery with radiation. (NPR http://n.pr/1oDIryu)
A new study says the growing popularity of the Western diet could help worsen climate change. As more people make meat a principal part of their diet, the authors say it will be very difficult to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (VOA http://bit.ly/1oDKRxj)
Economic prosperity is the worst enemy of minority languages, said researchers Wednesday who listed parts of Australia and North America as “hotspots” for extinction risk. http://yhoo.it/1vOnzgy
Nearly three billion people risk ill health and early death merely from breathing the air in their homes that is polluted by fires made for cooking and heating, researchers said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/WbXIQ5)