Morning Briefing

In a speech to the European Parliament on Tuesday, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "told European lawmakers in Brussels not to cut aid to poor countries despite the economic and budgetary problems facing" European Union (E.U.) countries, Agence France-Presse reports. Gates "praised the [E.U.] whose support in health and development he said has been greater than that of the United States," AFP notes (1/24). On Wednesday, Gates "will be at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where he plans to exhort wealthy donors -- especially governments -- to keep funding a range of crucial projects in the developing world, from tuberculosis drugs and antimalaria bed nets to maternal care and vaccines," the Wall Street Journal writes. Gates "plans to make his case by showcasing ideas, backed by his foundation, that have helped cost-effectively tackle problems in global health," according to the newspaper (Naik, 1/25).