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BEIRUT: Twenty-four local NGOs have concluded a European Union-funded program designed to boost civil society, primarily by reaching out to marginalized and needy groups. European officials and the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR) were on hand Friday at a conference to mark the conclusion of the second stage of the AFKAR Program. A total of 3 million euros in funding by the EU was distributed equally to the participating NGOs as part of AFKAR 2.

Emergences, a French non-profit organization, and the Belgian NGO INF provided technical assistance to the NGOs participating in the program.

Phil Stewart and Daniel Flynn

Reuters

L'AQUILA, Italy: G8 leaders pledged $20 billion in aid on Friday to help poor nations feed themselves, surpassing expectations of a summit that made little ground on climate change and may spell the end of the G8 itself. US President Barack Obama and the summit's Italian host Silvio Berlusconi reflected growing consensus that the Group of Eight industrial powers, long criticized as an elite club, does not reflect the shifting patterns of global economic power.

Tackling global challenges "in the absence of major powers like China, India and Brazil seems to be wrongheaded," Obama said, adding that he looked forward to "fewer summit meetings."

Tom Perry

Reuters

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s economy could grow by up to 6 percent this year thanks in part to a spell of political calm that has extended beyond an election last month, the caretaker finance minister said on Thursday. But Mohammad Chatah said he would not raise his official growth projection from 4 percent. “The economy is doing well,” he told Reuters in an interview. “I would not be surprised at all if it reached 6 percent,” he said, in reference to growth.

“The indicators that we look at for the first half of the year, certainly the first trimester, show a better-than expected-performance,” he said.