Energy Third World

GE Capital Corp. and the fund group headed by George Soros, the Wall Street billionaire and philanthropist, are joining forces to invest in electric power plants in developing countries, the two sides announced Monday. The new Global Power Investments will raise at least $2.5 billion and invest it in building or running privately owned power plants, the partners said. The fund will initially focus on Mexico and Asia, particularly China, India and Indonesia.

When the people of San Buenaventura in Guatemala tested their newly installed solar panels, the ceremony was marked with food, drinks and marimba music--fanfare one might expect at such a momentous event. Never before had electricity graced the small Guatemalan village of 60 households. But what Ivan Azurdia remembers most about that night five years ago is the awe-struck look on the children's faces when all the lights of the community were turned on.

French-speaking nations, meeting in Quebec, adopted new programs to assist the Third World countries among them in the fields of communications, culture, agriculture and energy. It was not clear how much such developed nations as France and Belgium will contribute to each program, but Canada announced a $3.8-million donation to set up an agricultural training center in Africa to teach advanced farming methods.

GE Capital Corp. and the fund group headed by George Soros, the Wall Street billionaire and philanthropist, are joining forces to invest in electric power plants in developing countries, the two sides announced Monday. The new Global Power Investments will raise at least $2.5 billion and invest it in building or running privately owned power plants, the partners said. The fund will initially focus on Mexico and Asia, particularly China, India and Indonesia.

When the people of San Buenaventura in Guatemala tested their newly installed solar panels, the ceremony was marked with food, drinks and marimba music--fanfare one might expect at such a momentous event. Never before had electricity graced the small Guatemalan village of 60 households. But what Ivan Azurdia remembers most about that night five years ago is the awe-struck look on the children's faces when all the lights of the community were turned on.

Bank of America today was fined a record $4.75 million for failing to report thousands of large cash transactions as required by federal law. The Treasury Department said the nation's largest bank had committed 17,000 violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, a tool used to battle the laundering of cash used in drug smuggling and other illegal activities. The law requires financial institutions to report all cash dealings of more than $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Manu Chao "La Radiolina" (Nacional/Because) THE title of Manu Chao's third solo album, his first in six years, makes us imagine the world music wizard as a broadcaster with his own little radio station -- a diminutive radiolina -- that we can tune in and out as time and leisure allow. His music isn't confined to a finite CD but part of an ongoing program, like a play list to which songs can be added.

He is arguably the most watched person in banking today. He may be the most feared. And he probably is the funniest at a time when there are many long faces. As the nation's chief regulator of national banks, Comptroller of the Currency Robert L. Clarke and his staff have been accused of launching SWAT-like examinations to unearth problem real estate loans.

French-speaking nations, meeting in Quebec, adopted new programs to assist the Third World countries among them in the fields of communications, culture, agriculture and energy. It was not clear how much such developed nations as France and Belgium will contribute to each program, but Canada announced a $3.8-million donation to set up an agricultural training center in Africa to teach advanced farming methods.