With the G8 summit only one month away, the Pope has backed a call from a worldwide delegation of bishops to put poverty at the heart of the agenda.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has led an international delegation to 10 Downing Street to remind Tony Blair of Britain’s commitment to the G8 pledges made at Gleneagles.

Leaders of G8 countries must take the next steps to meet their commitments to end extreme poverty and stop AIDS' devastation in the developing world, Christian aid agency World Vision has said in a paper released for this week's meeting of government development ministers.

Campaigners across England and Wales are gearing up to put pressure the G8 to take urgent action over poverty, when it meets in June.

As Nicaragua welcomes Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega back to power after nearly seventeen years this week, UK-based development agency Christian Aid has called on the new president to use international debt relief for urgently needed anti-poverty programmes.