The Obama administration plans to use an additional $200 million to expand its fight against malaria, expanding services to 70 million more people in Africa and accelerating a global effort to eradicate the disease.

India's telecoms regulator ruled Monday that service providers must charge the same price for all content, dealing a crushing blow to "Free Basics," a Facebook initiative that had come under withering criticism from tech activists. "Free Basics," formerly known as Internet.org, offered limited Internet access to consumers who cannot afford a broadband connection or smartphone data plan.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed the Electrify Africa Act, after nearly two years of trying to get the measure through both chambers of Congress. […] The bill will provide a framework for a major public-private partnership between the United States and sub-Saharan African countries to help millions of people gain access to reliable electricity.

From the mundane to the bizarre, everything seemed to include a hashtag in global development this year.

Thanks to a group of inventors in South Africa, where as much as 11 percent of the population lives in shacks and fast-moving fires spread easily [...] Over the past three years, the team has developed a modified, networked fire alarm system known as Lumkani. The system is designed to alert neighbors, emergency responders, and entire informal communities to fires faster and more efficiently [...]