The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank have cancelled most of the debt from struggling Caribbean nation of Haiti, the BBC reports. That move subtracts $1.2 billion from the country’s total debt of $1.9 billion. The debt relief was given because Haiti has begun to reform its economy and execute new measures to reduce poverty, according to the World Bank and IMF.

Zambian Nurses Still Striking
Despite receiving a government order to return to work or possibly get fired, nurses in the nation of Zambia are continuing their strike, which has been going on for three weeks. Instead of going back to work Monday, the nurses are gathered outside of the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), upset that the government hasn’t done more to work with them, reports the BBC.  The nurses are asking for a 25-percent raise as well as more uniforms, night duty and housing allowances. Zambia’s government proposed a 15-percent raise and says it will negotiate more with the nurses only after the strike ends. The strike has put a burden on the nation’s health services; student nurses are working at the University Teaching Hospital’s out-patient department.
 

The World Bank Approves Millions for Haiti
The World Bank recently approved a $5 million grant for Haiti. The money will go toward improving the impoverished Caribbean nation’s agriculture industry. About half of Haiti’s workers work in agriculture and the industry accounts for more than 25 percent of the gross domestic output. The industry was hit hard last year by devastating back-to-back hurricanes and fluctuating food prices.

Did Liberia Charity Workers Steal $1 Million in Aid?
An official from World Vision, a U.S. based charity, claims that over 90 percent of aid sent to Liberia was lost due to fraud, reports the BBC. Workers are believed to have stolen more than $1 million in aid, the group’s Vice-President George Ward, told the news service. Three World Vision workers have been charged in connection to the fraud. They have been charged with 12 counts, including theft, fraud, lying to investigators and witness tampering, reports the news service. The group allegedly sold donated food in markets and hung on to the profits and used charity resources to build themselves homes. The charity was tipped off about the fraud in 2007, two years after it allegedly began. That year, World Vision sent auditors to the Liberian towns that supposedly received aid. According to Ward, they found only 9 percent of the food aid had gone to the needy. And, according to The Associated Press, 34 of the towns didn’t exist. In wake of such scandal, Ward promises that the organization has taken steps to prevent such fraud from taking place in the future. “We can guarantee that we make every effort to ensure that every dollar, every pound sterling, every euro contributed to World Vision is sued in the best possible way and we have an excellent track record in that regard,” he told the BBC. 
 

World Bank to Lend Haiti $121 Million
Last week, the World Bank approved a $121 million four-year lending plan for Haiti, reports Reuters. The money will go towards helping the nation’s struggling economy and assisting with the recovery effort from last year’s devastating tropical storms. “With this new strategy, we are supporting Haiti’s own efforts to put the difficult events of last year firmly behind it, and return to a path toward longer term growth and development,” a World Bank official told Reuters. “The country faces great opportunities, as well as huge challenges, and it needs strong and sustained support from the World Bank Group and other international partners.” The International Finance Corporation, a World Bank Group, tapped the agricultural and textile manufacturing sectors as areas for possible growth in Haiti.

Zimbabwe Will Get World Bank Money
Again The World Bank has promised to give Zimbabwe $22 million in aid. This is the Bank’s first aid to the country since 2000, when Zimbabwe started falling behind in repayments. The African nation, struggling with the world’s highest inflation rate, high unemployment and other difficulties has been asking the international community for $8.5 billion to help repair its economy, reports the BBC. The nation, though, has to start paying off its current debt if they’d like to see more World Bank money, an official said. “The first task is to see how Zimbabwe can get on with debt reduction,” said a World Bank official. Zimbabwe currently owes the organization and the African Development Bank more than $1 billion. Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe’s finance minister, said that the government would work out a repayment plan with the World Bank.
 

Nigeria’s Military Rescues Hostages
Over the past couple of days, Nigeria’s military says they’ve rescued 18 hostages captured in the nation’s oil-rich Niger Delta region by militants, reports CNN. Nine Filipinos and five Nigerians were released Saturday and four Ukrainians were released Sunday, according to a military spokesman. Fighting between the government and militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a group that is calling for the nation’s oil wealth to be distributed equally, has killed as many as 1,000, according to one official. MEND’s activities include damaging the nation’s oil facilities, which has resulted in a reduction of the nation’s oil exports.  The group declared war against the government late last week, following what they believe was a fatal bombing attack on civilians. “Casualties are mostly women, children and the elderly who could not get away quickly into the bush or high see,” the group said. Col. Rabe Abubakar, though, insists that while villages have been destroyed in the wake, civilians are not the target of any attacks by the government. “We are not attacking villages – just (militant) camps,” he said. “We want the international community to know that we are getting rid of criminals and terrorists in our communities so foreigners who come here to work and invest here are safe,” Abubakar said.

The World Bank Issues an Urgent Warning
If action isn’t taken soon, the world’s neediest nations could be heading toward disaster, World Bank leader Robert Zoellick said at the group’s spring meeting, reports the BBC. “There is widespread recognition that the world faces an unprecedented economic crisis, poor people could suffer the most and that we must continue to act in real time to prevent a human catastrophe,” he said. Wealthier countries need to do more to help the worldwide crisis, he said. Zoellick’s group along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a joint statement asking “all donors to accelerated delivery of commitments to increase aid, and for us all to consider going beyond existing commitments.” The crisis is hitting the African continent especially hard, according to World Bank managing director, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Because of the economic slowdown, governments across the continent have had to slash budgets resulting in them being unable to pay teachers or health workers, she told the BBC. “We are hearing of people who can’t eat three square meals a day.” Internationally, an additional 53 million people are on the brink of extreme poverty, according to the World Bank.
 

U.S. Virgin Islands Honors Tim Duncan
The U.S. Virgin Islands recently proclaimed April 25 as “Timothy Theodore Duncan Day” after beloved native son and San Antonio Spur star Tim Duncan. Duncan was born on the island St. Croix and graduated from a local high school in 1993 before heading to North Carolina’s Wake Forest University. This isn’t Duncan’s first honor from the islands. In 1994 the U.S. Virgin Islands’ legislature honored him for his exceptional play at Wake Forest and in 1996 the St. Croix Educational Complex Gymnasium was named after him. Duncan was awarded the Virgin Islands Medal of Honor in 1997 for his basketball skills and the positive attention he’s brought to the area.