BBC News: Ethiopia imposes aid agency curbs
Ethiopia’s parliament has passed a controversial bill imposing tight restrictions on aid agencies. Under the bill, foreign agencies are prohibited from a number of areas including human rights, equality, conflict resolution and the rights of children. Local groups that receive more than 10 percent of their funding from abroad are also banned from working in these areas. According to the BBC, at the heart of the bill is a clause aimed at preventing foreign interference in issues which the government believes should be a purely Ethiopian affair. Some see this bill as “an attempt by the ruling party to banish all those it sees as a threat to its tight grip on power” which runs the risk of greatly hindering needed aid in the process.

Financial Times: The world must go beyond Doha
Two global economists write today in the Financial Times that the G20 must “go beyond Doha,” saying that after the global financial breakdown, the G20 needs to consider broader changes to global trade. The current Doha agenda, they write, cannot adequately deal with all the challenges facing the trading system.

NY Times: Obama Warns Trillion-Dollar Deficit Potential
Yesterday, President-elect Obama braced Americans for the unparalleled prospect of “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come,” a stark assessment of the budgetary outlook that he said would force his administration to impose tighter fiscal discipline on the government. Obama sought to distinguish between the need to run what is likely to be record-setting deficits for several years and the necessity to begin bringing them down markedly in subsequent years.

The Economist: A giving recession?
The Economist writes that among the more difficult things to forecast for 2009 is what will happen to giving. On the one hand, the turmoil in financial markets has reduced the assets of many prominent givers, both foundations and individuals. On the other hand, giving has proven remarkably recession proof, at least in America. While acknowledging that times will be tough, leaders of some of the biggest American foundations suggest to the magazine that the financial downturn may provide an opportunity to improve the non-profit sector. Tough times could encourage non-profits that share similar goals to collaborate more, share back-office functions and maybe even merge.

Reuters: Britain pledges 64 million pounds for Congo
Britain said today it would donate 64 million pounds ($94 million) this year to help tackle a humanitarian crisis in the conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Of this, 39 million pounds would be spent on providing food, safe drinking water and medical care and on supplying tools and seeds, a government statement said.

-Steve Wilson