Emerging economic powerhouses China and India may be encouraged to strike a “grand bargain” at a coming London summit in which they will take on a greater role in the international financial system in exchange for keeping down protectionist barriers. The deal could be struck at the April 2 summit of the Group of 20 (G-20) countries in London - to be attended by US President Barack Obama - and forms part of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s efforts to seek sweeping reforms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Chinese President Hu Jintao is on his first foreign tour of 2009, which includes four African states -- Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius. Business is booming between China and Africa in commodities and energy. Here are some details of China's growing business in Africa: Trade between the two has jumped in the past decade, driven by China's resource needs and growing African demand for cheap Chinese-made products. In 2008, total Sino-Africa trade was $106.8 billion, up 45.1 percent on 2007.

A near-$20 billion (13.8 billion pound) investment by China's top state-owned aluminium producer in miner Rio Tinto and some of its best assets shows how Beijing can use the commodities downturn to buy good assets, and raise the game of China Inc. While China has a long-term strategic interest in securing resources supplies, its big banks are among the most likely to buy minority stakes in foreign counterparts, analysts said, as Western peers bleed red from the global financial crisis.

President Hu Jintao’s Friendship and Cooperation visit to Africa ended on a high note. With more than US$380 million loans and grant agreements signed during the whistle-stop visit to Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius, President Hu put to rest any speculation or confusion regarding Beijing’s long-term strategy in Africa and reaffirmed its economic assistance during times of financial uncertainty and crisis. But the real significance of this visit was the keynote speech President Hu delivered in Tanzania entitled .

The global response to HIV and AIDS must be significantly reoriented to address the unmet needs of millions of children and their families in the worst affected countries, according to a new report by the independent Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA). The report summarises two years of research and analysis of AIDS- related policies, programmes and funding and their effectiveness in addressing the needs of children.

International Monetary Fund member countries, keenly aware of the need to give emerging nations more say in running the global economy, are considering a new policy-setting council that would more accurately reflect their rising economic clout. According to people familiar with the discussions, the council of ministers would be similar in make up and size to the Group of 20, and shift power more towards rising economic powers from the handful of industrial giants that have dominated post-World War Two policymaking.

Former child soldiers and other youth representing a grassroots campaign from around the world will present thousands of symbolic "red hands" to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to demand stronger action by international leaders to end the use of child soldiers.

After years of disappointments, AIDS researchers have announced results from a trial in which a vaginal microbicide appeared to offer promise in preventing HIV infection in women. According to findings from a clinical trial involving more than 3,000 women in Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the United States, the microbicide PRO 2000 gel was 30 percent effective.

In the span of 24 hours between December 31st, 2008 and January 1st, 2009, three Black men were the victims of racial profiling at the hands of various law enforcement agencies throughout the US. Oscar Grant, a 22-year old father, was shot and killed by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police while laying face down and handcuffed after leaving a New Years Eve party. Adolph Grimes, was killed after being shot 14 times, 12 times in the back, by several New Orleans police officers in front of his home after leaving a New Years Eve celebration. Robbie Tolan was critically shot in the back by police in Bellaire, Texas, a suburb of Houston, after being falsely accused of a suspected robbery of his parents SUV.

Riot police from mainland France have arrived on the French Caribbean islands as protests threaten to paralyse tourism and spread further afield. Strikes on Guadeloupe and Martinique have closed shops and schools and the reinforcements will help local police.

The Durban Review Conference, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, 20-24 April 2009, will evaluate progress towards the goals set by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

The return and reintegration of refugees and IDPs is one of the most pressing challenges faced by the international community today. Recently back from a visit to the Great Lakes region, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations will discuss the local settlement of refugees in Tanzania and the return and reintegration of refugees in Burundi.

The Center for Global Development (CGD), an independent Washington-based think tank, invites applications from leading scholars in developing countries for a visiting fellows program sponsored by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The program offers one-year sabbatical support for a senior researcher from a developing country on leave from his or her host institution.

Trade between China and Africa reached a record 106.84 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, up 45.1 percent from a year earlier, customs figures showed Wednesday. Exports to Africa reached 50.84 billion U.S. dollars, up 36.3 percent. Imports from Africa hit 56 billion U.S. dollars, up 54 percent.

The president of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou, inaugurated a Chinese-built project for national radio and television broadcast in the capital city Brazzaville on Thursday, according to reports reaching here. Chinese Ambassador in the central African country Li Shuli attended the inauguration of the cooperation project of 7.5 billion FCFA (15 million U.S. dollars).

Chinese companies set foot in Ethiopia with state-run construction firms such as China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), clinching road projects in the country and offering sub-contracts to private Chinese contractors. Over the last several years, however, Chinese private companies have swarmed in almost every major investment area in the country, including manufacturing, real estate development, restaurant and hotel business and agro industries, among many others.

The visits by Chinese leaders to African, Latin American and some other nations would promote China's friendship and cooperation with these countries, while Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's latest European trip has boosted confidence in jointly tackling the global financial crisis. Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit Saudi Arabia, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius from Feb. 10 to Feb. 17. Vice President Xi Jinping left here Sunday morning for official visits to Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Malta.

Botswana's troubled diamond industry could find solace in the Chinese market where prices and demand are expected to remain relatively stable, Chinese ambassador to Botswana Ding Xiaowen has said.

Somali pirates released a Chinese fishing vessel and its multinational crew Sunday from nearly three months of captivity, as Japan announced plans to dispatch two destroyers to the African coast to protect its commercial vessels from piracy, reports said.

China welcomes and appreciates South Africa's decision of termination on its countervailing investigations into China-made stainless steel sinks, said Yao Jian, spokesman of China's Ministry of Commerce. The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) announced that decision on Jan. 30, 2009.