News from Around the World

A new index shows how to measure gender equality in the SDGs

CANBERRA — In today’s development thinking, gender plays an key role — including in achieving the outcomes of the Sustainable Development Goals. But in progressing the SDG gender agenda, how do you create a solid set of data and monitor progress?

Turkey unveils plan to fight currency crisis

Turkey’s finance minister tried to rebuild shattered market confidence in his government’s ability to manage the economy by promising to cut public spending by nearly $10bn in a sweeping austerity programme that would put the brakes on growth.

The announcement by Berat Albayrak, who was put in charge of the economy two months ago by his father-in-law, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, comes just a week after a surprise decision by the central bank to sharply raise interest rates in the face of a mounting currency crisis.

Can Nafta Be Saved? These Two Negotiators Are Trying.

WASHINGTON — One is a Rhodes scholar, a globe-trotting former journalist and, perhaps one day, a Canadian prime minister. The other is a veteran Republican lawyer who toiled as a congressional staff aide, represented the steel industry and has been cutting trade deals in Washington since the Reagan administration.

The World Bank’s latest tool for fighting famine: Artificial intelligence

The group is partnering with Silicon Valley to tackle a problem affecting millions around the world.

Despite being a slow-moving disaster, famine is notoriously difficult to predict.

House Sets Vote on Plan to Double Funding for Global Infrastructure Projects

Must-pass FAA bill includes ‘Build Act,’ a bid to counter China’s influence by bolstering development financing

US pledges additional $48M for Venezuela crisis

WASHINGTON — United States Vice President Mike Pence announced an additional $48 million in U.S. funding for the regional response to Venezuelan refugees and migrants on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Chinese household debt hits record high, study shows

China’s household debt reached a record high last year, adding to worries the burden of debt services could weigh on long-term consumer spending and drag on growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

The country’s ratio of household debt to gross domestic product hit an all-time high of 49.1 per cent in 2017, marking an increase of nearly 20 per percentage points over the past five years, German insurer Allianz said in its latest global wealth report.

Nafta Isn’t Dead Yet, Despite Missed Deadline

WASHINGTON—President Trump has concluded that trade talks with Canada have reached an impasse, giving up on the self-imposed Sept. 30 deadline for completing a full rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mexico Pushes to Keep Canada in Nafta

Mexico’s president-elect said he will push to keep Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement, as Mexican officials scrambled to try to broker a last-minute deal between Washington and Ottawa.

IMF Appoints Harvard’s Gita Gopinath as Chief Economist

The International Monetary Fund appointed Harvard University’s Gita Gopinath as its new chief economist.

Ms. Gopinath, one of the leading scholars in exchange rates, sovereign debt and capital flows, will be the first woman to lead the IMF’s economic research department. She will take over from Maurice Obstfeld, who had previously announced his retirement.