Morning Briefing

Representatives of organizations and governments from 160 countries "agreed on Thursday to form a worldwide partnership to ensure tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid goes to help the neediest," Agence France-Presse reports. The declaration (.pdf) concluded the three-day 4th High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Busan, Korea, where major donors, including the U.S., Japan, and European nations, "tried to bring emerging donors like China -- which does not co-ordinate with other major aid-givers -- into the international fold," according to the news agency (Jung, 12/1).