The second half of 2008 saw unfold one of the most significant financial crises in history that started in the United States and then spread to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. The response was just as historic. To stave off regional and global recessions and restore stability and confidence in the market, northern governments are pursuing a massive and unprecedented program of government intervention, nationalizing banks, injecting massive subsidies into ailing institutions and re-regulating their financial sectors.

Major developing countries are again preparing to stand together on critical issues at the G20 heads of government meeting in Pittsburgh Sep 24-25. But Southern solidarity may need to move beyond the strategic common front presented at such summits to include a strengthening of continuing ties.

Interface is a new journal produced twice yearly by activists and academics around the world in response to the development and increased visibility of social movements in the last few years – and the immense amount of knowledge generated in this process. This knowledge is created across the globe, and in many contexts and a variety of ways, and it constitutes an incredibly valuable resource for the further development of social movements.

The International Journal for Transitional Justice invites submissions for its 2010 special issue titled “Transitional Justice on Trial: Evaluating its Impact” to be guest edited by Colleen Duggan, Senior Program Specialist with the Evaluation Unit of the International Development Research Centre, Canada.

In this week's Emerging powers in Africa watch, a weak economy drives Angola into the arms of the IMF as Luanda's elite works more closely with their Chinese counterparts in local and regional deals.

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Wednesday he had blocked possible "unprocedural use" of IMF aid allocated to the country under a global assistance agreement for member states hit by a global crisis. Biti dismissed as "rubbish" reports in state media that he had written to the International Monetary Fund effectively rejecting over $500 million in IMF special drawing rights extended to Zimbabwe because Harare has external debts of about $5.7 billion.

This week’s emerging powers news casts a spotlight on domestic developments in China; such as privatization of state-owned enterprises, the governance system, law and order. Elsewhere, China, India and Brazil continue to expand their investment footprint and hunt for resources in Africa and beyond.

The World Bank and major non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are calling on leaders who will gather for next week's Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Pittsburgh not to forget the needs of the world's poorest countries, which have been severely affected by the last year's financial crisis.In a report released on Wednesday, the Bank said the global recession, whose repercussions are still being felt around the world, will have resulted in an additional 89 million people living in absolute poverty, or on less than 1.25 dollars a day, by the end of next year.

Two weeks ago, Global Voices Online reported the story of Januário Alves de Santana, a black man who had been beaten and punched by security guards of one of the largest international retailers in Brazil. He was waiting for his family in the car park of a supermarket when he was accused of trying to steal his own car, under the argument that, being black, he would not be able to afford a luxury car.

Zimbabwe's minerals sector could attract investments of up to $16 billion once a more conducive business environment is in place, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said. That could help boost gross domestic product by $3 billion per year, Tsvangirai said.

Africa registered 8,000 cases of the H1N1 A flu, called swine flu, 46 of which resulted in deaths, out of the the 164,152 cases reported throughout the world, a researcher with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Sénégal, Dr. Mang Coly, has disclosed. Coly said South Africa was one of the most affected countries in the continent with 5,877 cases of contamination, followed by Tanzania, with 96 cases, Mauritius , 69 cases, and Kenya, 85 cases.

With East Africa reeling under a severe drought, India offered all possible help and assistance in spurring a green revolution in Tanzania. Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo K. Pinda, who is on a four-day visit to India, held wide-ranging discussions with the External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, where the issue of agricultural cooperation was discussed in detail.

The University of Texas, Austin is pleased to announce a three-day conference centered on the theme of “Women, Gender and Sexualities in Africa”. Academic discourses on women, gender and sexualities in Africa have increased by leaps and bounds since the 1980s when they began to establish root as veritable fields of professional, systematic and academic endeavor from March 26-28, 2010. The deadline for submitting paper proposals is November 1, 2009.

The Kirwan Institute is hosting its second biannual Transforming Race conference on March 11-13, 2010. The theme of the conference is Crisis and Opportunity in the Age of Obama. It will feature the following three thematic tracks:
* Racial Dynamics and Systems Thinking introducing the theory and application of systems thinking to social and racial justice.
* Race Talk exploring constructive, productive, and inclusive racial dialogues.
* Race, Recession and Recovery focusing on the impact of and solutions to the economic downturn for populations of color. The agenda is still being constructed and we need your input.

cc The China AnalystA substantial presence of Chinese OFDI on the world stage essentially dates from 2004 – a short yet vigorous history of barely 5 years. In this brief period, Chinese companies Going Global have become fundamental to the next stage of China’s integration with the global economy. Why is this happening Now, Who is at the forefront of this outward drive, and Where is it heading, asks Barry van Wyk.

Ama Biney writes for Pambazuka News on the rush to acquire land in Africa by foreign governments and private investors, fuelled by fears for global food security in the face of climate change and volatile food prices on the international market. Warning that the ‘political and economic risks of these land purchases are colossal and outweigh any gains,’ Biney argues that ‘African governments must make food security and sufficiency for their own people paramount.’

The current global crisis, writes Samir Amin in this week's Pambazuka News, is neither a financial crisis nor the result of myriad systemic crises, but rather derives from the risk of a challenge of the power of the imperialist capitalism of the world's oligopolies by those marginalised. While global powers seek to restore the system to its pre-crisis state, the current crisis in fact allows us to conceive of a 'possible integrated front' involving all the social and political forces which collectively represent the victims of the exclusive power of the oligopolies, Amin contends. Challenging historical capitalism represents the core element in the emancipation of the oppressed, a challenge that will only be met when the peoples of the global South and North struggle together, and without which capitalism will ultimately be overtaken by the destruction of civilisation, and perhaps even life on our planet, Amin concludes.

The World Bank Group announced today that its financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and programmes in developing countries has gone up 24 percent in the last fiscal year to reach $3.3 billion, the highest ever. Total renewable energy and energy efficiency commitments for the year ended June 30, 2009 accounted for more than 40 percent of total Bank Group energy lending.

In this week's emerging powers news, Chinese investors continue to focus on Nigerian, Kenyan, and South African assets, as India continues to grow in stature as an African investor and global economic power.

The UN children's agency says child mortality is decreasing, but the rate of decline is not enough. A new report says more than eight million children under five died last year with pneumonia and diarrhoea the two leading causes of death. Unicef says 40% of under-five deaths take place in just three countries - Nigeria, India and DR Congo.