Global report says foreign aid by major donor countries slumping, threatening targets

Foreign aid by major donor countries slumped last year as debt-relief plans tapered off and amid a global economic downturn in Japan and some other rich nations, a Paris-based think tank said Friday.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned in a new report that the United States and other donors are falling behind ambitious targets set in 2005 to increase global aid to the needy and backtracking on pledges.

European Union chief Jose Manuel Barroso chided member countries over the report's findings, warning that if the 27-nation bloc doesn't reverse the trend, it will fail to meet U.N. promises to halve extreme poverty by 2015 and …