(December 20, 2005) Hyundai Engineering and Construction will accept a debt write-off proposal and collect only 20 percent of bonds it has been owed by Iraq since the first Gulf War 16 years ago.
Austria cancels 80 percent of Iraq debt
(December 19, 2005) Austria has announced it has cancelled the equivalent of $2.1 billion of Iraqi debt, amounting to 80% of Austria’s claims towards Iraq.
Political survival over people’s welfare
(December 18, 2005) In theory, the national budget can be a powerful mechanism for ensuring that public resources are used for the welfare of the majority. Unfortunately, narrow interests have perpetually hijacked the direction of Philippine economic policy and this is fully reflected in the national government budgets annually drawn up and implemented.
Iraqi elections: ‘To be free and fair’
(December 14, 2005) Only after occupation can the U.S. begin to make good on outstanding U.S. obligations to the people of Iraq – including compensation for the years of sanctions, reparations for the devastation of war, and cancellation of odious debt.
Africa needs freer markets – and fewer tyrants
(December 14, 2005) Famine in Niger is no surprise – desert wastes, locusts and decades of Marxist rule keep it second-to-last on the world poverty list. Famine in the fertile climes of southern and eastern Africa, however, seems more shocking. But there’s a common thread: centralized state rule – incompetent at best – marked by corruption and sustained by aid.
Compassionate debt relief or Paris Club 419?
(December 12, 2005) Some Nigerians refuse to celebrate the recent debt relief granted by the Paris Club cartel of creditors, and its accompanying conditions.
The West, quietly, is pillaging Iraq
(December 10, 2005) When Saddam Hussein grabbed power in 1979, Iraq had no long-term foreign debt. Cash reserves were $36 billion. Iraq had high literacy and public universities; it had extensive socialized health care. It was becoming a "first world" nation. Soon, however, this violent, cunning despot began squandering that wealth.
Despotism and corruption in Africa: editorial
(December 8, 2005) Pakistan has not descended to the level where the face of our leaders, past or present, appear on our currency notes, yet many of our problems, political, social and economic, may be attributed to the persistence of a clan mentality: Razi Azmi
U.K. urged not to accept debt repayment
(December 7, 2005) G-7 will receive more than it will provide to poor countries in a decade.
Africa’s reform efforts
(December 7, 2005) There is “ample evidence of reasoning dementia on both sides of the African reformation spectrum” claims Charles Kwalonue Sunwabe, Jr., in his analysis of reform progress in Africa for The Perspective – a monthly newsmagazine covering Liberian issues.
Zimbabwe’s ‘elections’
(November 30, 2005) Only about 15 percent of registered voters turned out for Saturday’s parliamentary "elections" in Zimbabwe. The vote was quiet and orderly, with Zimbabweans registering their opposition to their leader, Robert Mugabe, by staying home.
World Bank backs $100m Iraq loan
(November 30, 2005) The World Bank has approved a $100 million loan to Iraq to help reduce overcrowding in the country’s schools.
Risky times for hard news and views
(November 30, 2005) New York City: After this year’s International Press Freedom Awards dinner, a former reporter remarked to me the honorees’ inspiring stories made her "think about getting back into real journalism again," with her accent on "real." "Me, too," I responded spontaneously, feeling unusually humbled by the realities of many of our overseas colleagues.
Zimbabwe turnout hits a record low
(November 29, 2005) Only one in five eligible voters cast a ballot in Saturday’s elections in Zimbabwe, a record low turnout that opposition leaders and political analysts called a sign that the nation has lost faith in the ballot box as a means to battle the harsh rule of President Robert Mugabe.
US labels Zimbabwe Senate election a ‘nonevent’
(November 29, 2005) In a sign of growing U.S. animosity toward Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, a senior U.S. official dismissed as “a nonevent” last weekend’s Senate poll victory by the ruling party in the southern African nation.
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