WASHINGTON—Buffeted by the euro zone crisis and distracted by political problems at home, the leaders of the world’s industrial powers are turning to the private sector to help fight hunger and malnutrition for up to a billion people beset by shortages, droughts and rising food prices. G8 and NATO meetings U.S. President Barack Obama will announce a new public-private partnership program on Friday, seeking to spur this weekend’s summit of the wealthy G8 to focus on market methods to boost production, particularly among hardscrabble small-scale farmers in Africa who may hold the key to improved world food supplies. This year’s meeting of the G8 — the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia — will focus on the economic headaches plaguing the ... Continue reading →

ATHENS/LONDON (Reuters) - In Athens, the homeless are on the streets in growing numbers, soup kitchens feed twice as many people as a year ago, and the poor are diving into garbage bins in search of scrap they can sell.Greece is close to breaking point as it struggles with austerity targets set by creditors, but this is just a foretaste of the nightmare of unrest, hunger and even anarchy that could engulf the debt-crippled nation if it is forced out of the euro.If the exact economic impact of such a move is hard to nail down - newly issued drachmas devalued by up to 70 percent, runaway inflation, a banking meltdown, a collapse in trade - the implications for ordinary Greeks crushed by the debt ... Continue reading →

By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS | Thu May 17, 2012 9:17pm EDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. panel of experts that monitors compliance with sanctions on North Korea is investigating reports of possible weapons-related deals between Pyongyang and Syria and Myanmar, the panel said in a confidential report seen by Reuters on Thursday. "The DPRK (North Korea) continues actively to defy the measures in the (U.N. sanctions) resolutions," the panel said in the report, which it submitted to the U.N. Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee earlier this week."Member states did not report to the committee any violations involving transfer of nuclear, other (weapons of mass-destruction)-related or ballistic missile items," it said. "But they did report several other violations including illicit ... Continue reading →

By David Chance SEOUL | Wed May 16, 2012 10:45pm EDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has resumed construction work on an experimental light water reactor (ELWR) in a move that could extend its capacity to produce more material for nuclear weapons, website 38North reported on Thursday. Based on April 30 satellite images, work halted in December at the reactor had now re-started, said the website (38north.org), run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University and former U.S. State Department official Joel Wit.The construction activity comes as Pyongyang has stepped up progress towards conducting a third nuclear test, perhaps using highly enriched uranium for the first time, despite warnings from the United States and China."Pyongyang's construction of an ELWR — which the North Koreans ... Continue reading →

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON | Wed May 16, 2012 11:07pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid will ask the chamber to approve a new package of oil and economic sanctions on Thursday aimed at further pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear program, a Democratic leadership aide told Reuters. The politically popular sanctions are focused on foreign banks that handle transactions for Iran's national oil and tanker companies, and include measures to close loopholes in existing sanctions.The tougher package has secured support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobby group, the Democratic aide said. A senior Republican congressional aide said the bill is expected to pass."AIPAC has signed off on this and is strongly supporting it and is urging ... Continue reading →