- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
China needs to be 'more active' in G20 debt relief effort: Yellen to AFP
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said China needs to do more to accelerate global efforts to provide debt relief for poor nations that ramped up borrowing during the pandemic.
In an interview with AFP, Yellen acknowledged the Group of 20's initiative to help debtor nations "has not been going very rapidly," and the United States "would hope to see more active participation" from China.
Yellen will participate virtually in the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers in Jakarta Thursday and Friday, where growing concerns about the economic prospects of developing nations will be a central issue.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the G20 put in place the Debt Service Suspension Initiative to help countries that borrowed heavily to deal with the twin health and economic crises, but that program ended in December.
The G20 last year adopted the Common Framework plan meant to offer a path to restructure large debt loads, but it remains subject to uncertainty, and only three countries -- Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia -- have requested a negotiation under its terms.
The World Bank and IMF have each warned of dire consequences unless more nations are granted forbearance.
A key hurdle is the lack of information on the size of debt owed to China, as well as some other lenders, by private companies as well as governments.
While countries like China "have agreed to participate" in the initiative," Yellen said, "we certainly need to move more expeditiously than we have... to facilitate faster and more effective relief of debt through the common framework."
She said G20 finance officials this week also will continue to work on strategies to help countries deal with the pandemic, "which continues to be a major problem in many parts of the world."
"We'll certainly focus on the need to help low-income economies and debt-ridden economies that are especially pressed because of the pandemic, (and on) how to facilitate faster and more effective relief of debt through the common framework," Yellen said.
The G20 also is working on boosting financing mechanisms through the IMF and World Bank, channeling resources to trust funds to satisfy immediate needs like vaccine distribution and broader efforts to prevent future pandemics, as well as to deal with climate issues, she said.
Yellen added that the officials will continue discussions on implementing a 15-percent global minimum corporate tax to "try to keep the momentum going."
She said G20 countries need to make more progress on the domestic steps needed to implement the tax on "highly profitable, multinational corporations."
In the United States, those steps were included in President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislative package, which opposition Republicans have blocked in the Senate.
Yellen said the tax language in the bill was "widely agreed upon," and would provide funds to pay for other priorities, and she is "confident there will be some legislation later this year."
P.Santos--AMWN