Through our Odious Debts Online news service, Probe International has long critiqued and reported on the failures of the international multi-billion-dollar aid industry to help the world’s poorest countries develop, instead creating a cycle of dependency and stagnation. Economist Dambisa Moyo in Dead Aid comes to the same conclusion
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Earthquakes too mysterious to predict
(April 21, 2009) According to an article in the April 13th edition of The New York Times, the ability to determine in advance the location, timing or intensity of a seismic event is beyond the abilities of modern science. Though that hasn’t stopped scientists from trying.
Say no to more dams on the Mekong river
(April 21, 2009) The Save the Mekong coalition is fighting to keep the governments of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos from building 11 massive hydroelectric dams along the Mekong River mainstream. If construction is allowed to proceed, the dams will disrupt fish migration patterns; effectively putting an end to what is currently one of the world’s most productive inland fisheries.
China says planning more dams on troubled Yangtze
(April 21, 2009) China will build at least 20 more reservoirs or hydroelectric projects in the Yangtze river system by 2020, the government said Tuesday, despite growing concerns over dam construction there.
Majority of Chileans reject dams in Patagonia
(April 20, 2009) The latest public survey addressing the issue of the construction of hydroelectric mega-projects in the Aysén Region of the Chilean Patagonia shows that the Chilean public is clearly against the dams.
Three Gorges reservoir sees 166 geo-disasters since last September
(April 17, 2009) The rise and fall of the water level in the Three Gorges reservoir has triggered 166 geological hazards and forced 28,600 people to relocate in Chongqing Municipality since last September, local officials said.
28,000 more moved from China Three Gorges area
(April 17, 2009) Landslides and mudflows caused by rising and falling waters behind China’s gigantic Three Gorges Dam has forced the relocation of over 28,000 people since September, state press said Friday.
Thai villagers win case against national power utility
(April 17, 2009) In a rare legal victory for Thai villagers, a provincial court has ordered Thailand’s national power utility to compensate hundreds of villagers for health problems caused by years of pollution from its Mae Moh power plant in northern Thailand.
Three Gorges dam faces 14.5-billion-dollar cost overrun
(April 16, 2009) China’s Three Gorges Dam, due to be completed in November, is getting bigger every day on all fronts. While officially the government said it has spent 180 billion yuan (26.35 billion dollars) on building the 185-metre dam and a reservoir stretching more than 600 kilometres, local critics and foreign observers said the real figure could be more than twice that amount, and that’s just in the construction phase.
JAKARTA: Government told to renegotiate German loans for warships
(April 16, 2009) The government should declare void a German government loan to procure 39 used warships, as it constitutes an odious debt, a workshop held at the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid) concluded Wednesday.
Three Gorges landslide threat worsens
(April 14, 2009) The threat of a massive landslide has prompted government authorities to issue an emergency warning to boat operators plying the Three Gorges reservoir, according to Chinese news sources.
Foreign aid for the unrepaid is mostly a masquerade
(April 14, 2009) The Hudson’s Institute, Jeremiah Norris,
Trillion-Dollar-Plus Foreign Aid To Help Global Economy: Is It in Vain?
(April 13, 2009) Rauf Naqishbendi, a contributing writer at the American Chronicle, looks at some of the negative consequences of US foreign aid.
CPPIB venturing into bond market
(April 8, 2009) The Globe and Mail reported on March 26 that Canada’s Pension Plan Investment Board plans to venture into debt markets by selling up to $5-billion in bonds to cut borrowing costs and increase its flexibility to make new investments.
FACTBOX: Hydro development along the upper Yangtze and tributaries
(April 6, 2009) A table showing dams with generating capacities along the upper Yangtze and tributaries
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Patricia Adams and Lawrence Solomon
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