Politico: Hillary Clinton Plans to Reassert Herself with High-Profile Speech
Tomorrow Hillary Clinton will give a speech articulating her foreign policy agenda. The speech will include strong discussion of development and a forward-looking overview of how the Obama administration thinks about U.S. relations with and management of the great powers. The Secretary of State has said that the government’s foreign policy plan prioritizes development along with diplomacy.

The Guardian (UK): Paul Collier: Send in the Accountants
In an op-ed, Paul Collier praises Obama’s tough messages in Ghana, saying “Africa’s leaders have become accustomed to a protective stance of victimhood.” On aid, he says that Obama indicated that American aid money will be conditional upon decent governance, a decision with which Collier agrees.

Reuters: Economic Crisis Far From Over, WTO Chief Says
Reuters: The World Trade Organization’s Director-General said yesterday that the global economic downturn is far from over, and few countries have dismantled the dangerous protectionist barriers they imposed in response to it. Trade diplomats are due to meet on Monday afternoon at the WTO’s headquarters for the first Doha Round negotiating session since the G8 plus major emerging countries set the 2010 target. A Doha deal would open up global food, goods and services markets.

Pan African News Agency: UN Agency Says Funds to Fight AIDS Reach US $8 Billion
A new report by UNAIDS says that resources to tackle the AIDS epidemic worldwide reached US$8 billion last year. In a statement issued in New York it said that the actual resources available to combat the virus surged 56 per cent from 2007. Commitments from developed countries climbed from U$6.6 billion in 2007 to $8.7 billion last year, with the US providing the bulk of the funding with 4 billion dollars.

New York Times: Clinton Says Candidate for Aid Agency is Tangled in Vetting
Hillary Clinton said yesterday that she could not announce a new director for the United States Agency for International Development because the candidate was stuck in a lengthy vetting process. The Times reports that the news caused the Secretary of State “a rare burst of public frustration with the White House.” The exhaustive vetting process has left posts unfilled across the government, but USAID has been hit particularly hard, with no director since President Obama took office. The administration is expected to name Paul Farmer for the post.

-Grace Lamb-Atkinson