by Roberto Bissio

Israel's riot police invaded last Sunday, November 9th., the church of the Holy Sepulcher arresting two monks, armenian and greek, to finish a violent discussion more suitable of hooligans in a stadium than priests in the most sacred place of christianity.

The armenian monks had organised a procession to commemorate four hundred years of the holy woods that are worshipped as being part of Jesus Christ's Cross. Thus, the greek monks formed a human barrier to repel the advance of the procession to which they were not invited, avoiding them to pass into the grave's ediculus they are in charge of custody. "If the procession went on, they would've gained a right they don't actually have", explained a greek monk named Serafim, bleeding from a cut in his face after being punched by armenian monks that broke his glasses.

Today, November 15th., world leaders will meet at the G-20 Summit in Washington D.C., to discuss in a non inclusive manner the destiny of the global financial architechture. Pledges for more participation from civil society organisations and individuals worldwide have been ignored by the few, in their hands is the destiny of global economics. Feel free to share your views, documents and thoughts.

Use the blog, post your opinions and make sure your voice is heard!

Resources (updated November 17th.):

by Brian Wingfield and Deborah Orr 10.13.08, 6:00 AM
Forbes.com

Following a packed weekend of meetings here, many of the world's top economic officials are returning to their home countries Monday to deal with the next stage in the ongoing financial crisis.

Sir, If the International Monetary Fund is projecting that the world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s, and that “that global growth was likely to slow to 3.9 per cent growth in 2008 and 3 per cent in 2009, sharply down from 5 per cent growth last year” (“IMF forecasts global slowdown”, FT.com, October 8), then why is it still making i

As if there was not enough heat already at the Singapore meetings, the Bank has briefed strongly against UK development minister Hilary Benn. Today's FT has a story that Benn 'manufactured' the row with the World Bank. Benn is accused by an unnamed Bank source of being 'an ambitious political climber' who 'tossed fictional red meat' to his press corps for domestic political reasons. The FT says that Benn's threat to hold back 50 million pounds from the Bank may have been a stunt to grab headlines at a time of fluidity in Labour politics.

Bank management presented its highly-anticipated governance and anti-corruption strategy to the Development Committee this week. It appears to have been met with some stiff resistance by member governments, who demanded greater Board oversight of the framework. Leading the critics was UK Development Secretary Hilary Benn, who stressed the importance of the Bank staying true to its poverty-reduction mission.

The Development Committee noted the importance of country ownership and leadership, equal treatment of all member countries, and the need for clear governance and corruption indicators. "Given the importance of this issue, we stressed the importance of Board oversight of the strategy as it is further developed and then implemented, and we look forward to a report from the Board at our next meeting." Thus it appears that the draft brought to the Committee was not a final version, and post-Singapore consultations will focus on both substance and implementation.

The numbers keep coming in, but it appears that at least 54 individuals from 17 countries and as many civil soceity organizations were either banned, interrogated or deported from Singapore. At least nine were interrogated and eventually allowed to enter Singapore. At least 12 were interrogated and deported from Singapore. These numbers will grow, as new reports come in daily.

It's also important to note that many of the International People's Forum participants were briefly detained at the checkpoint into Singapore from Batam.

The Social Watch Report 2006 will be launched Tuesday 16:30 hs., Room 201 Suntec Center, at the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Singapore This year's report, titled "Impossible Architecture", refers to the urgent need to reform the current international financial structure to fulfil national and international commitments to eradicate poverty and promote gender equity. In addition to National Reports contributed by the member organizations of Social Watch, the 2006 Report includes 13 Thematic Articles by experts on international finan

Communiqué of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund September 17, 2006 1. The International Monetary and Financial Committee held its fourteenth meeting in Singapore on September 17, 2006 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom. The Committee expresses its gratitude to the Singapore authorities for the excellent arrangements. ...

There's almost too much going on in Batam. Each day starts with two to four plenary sessions. Afternoons are filled with workshops and skillshare sessions. Organizers are holding at least two press conferences per day. And let's not forget the networking and informal meetings which permeate everyone's schedule.

Plenary sessions today focused on illegitimate debt and the Global Transparency Initiative (GTI).

STATEMENT of the IPF Convenors' Committee
International Peoples' Forum vs the IMF-World Bank
In response to Singapore 2006 Organizing Committee's Sept. 15 statement
16 September 2006, Batam, Indonesia

Too Little Too Late

The organizers of the International People's Forum (IPF) in Batam, Indonesia will continue their boycott of all official events of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Singapore. This boycott continues despite the Singapore government's September 15 press statement that it will now allow 22 of 27 officially blacklisted individuals to enter the country.