(July 3, 2009) Western China is a very seismically active area and has had many catastrophic earthquakes during its history. A joint European-Chinese team is using satellite radar data to monitor ground deformation across major continental faults in China to understand better the seismic cycle and how faults behave.
Hidroaysen: Pressing priority or utterly unnecessary?
(July 2, 2009) Long a source of serious environmental concerns, Chile’s controversial HidroAysén dam project is now being questioned along technical lines as well. Despite its billing as a “national priority” critics say that from a basic supply and demand perspective, the multi-billion-dollar hydroelectric plan is simply unnecessary.
Zimbabwe: the case for a debt audit
(July 2, 2009) The unpalatable fact is that the Republic of Zimbabwe is virtually bankrupt. As at December 1 2008, Zimbabwe’s external debt stood at US$5, 255 billion, with a current account balance of US$597 million.
Changing Times Online
(July 1, 2009) The Prime Minister, Hon. Morgan Tsvangirai has endorsed the move taken by MDC ministers in boycotting yesterday’s cabinet meeting as he understands their frustrations and concerns over the delays in the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
Whistleblowers flood China’s anti-corruption hotline
(June 30, 2009) Anti-corruption hotline in China so popular with citizens that it received more than 11,000 calls in its first week.
China says construction at Yunnan dam halted
(June 25, 2009) China’s environmental ministry has won its latest battle with influential state-owned power firms after forcing two of them to stop hydropower projects in the southwest province of Yunnan, an official said.
China aims to build “Three Gorges of wind power”
(June 25, 2009) China is aiming to build a huge wind farm in the northwest by 2020 that will have energy capacity similar to the gigantic Three Gorges Dam, a senior official said Thursday.
Aftershock strikes Sichuan, destroying houses, bridges
(June 30, 2009) Thousands of houses and dozens of small bridges were destroyed during a 5.6-magnitude aftershock that struck Mianzhu, Sichuan province, at 2:03 am Tuesday morning.
June 4 incident, Dai Qing and the Three Gorges dam project
(June 30, 2009) This article by Chinese engineer Dr. Wang Weiluo marks this year’s 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen “Incident” by linking the events of that fateful day to the Three Gorges dam project. Dr. Wang provides insights, never heard before, into the behind-the-scenes political machinations and the power brokering over Three Gorges dam in the aftermath of Tiananmen.
Quake jolts China’s Sichuan, no reports of damage
(June 29, 2009) A small earthquake occured in the early hours of Tuesday in the same part of China that was devastated by a quake last year, a spokesman for the State Seismological Bureau in Beijing said.
Getting Africa off its knees
(Jun 28, 2009) A recent article by Witney W. Schneidmanin in Newsweek provides an apt description of Dambisa Moyo’s vision for the African continent.
Dambisa Moyo: fact vs. fabrication
(June 25, 2009) Dambisa Moyo’s solutions to ineffectual foreign aid have been sneered at, misrepresented, distorted, and attacked outright. Probe International takes it as a sign that Dead Aid has hit the central nervous system of the foreign aid industry. Consequently it can be difficult to separate what Moyo really said from what has been put forth as her words by others in an attempt to vilify her position. Here, Probe International attempts to set the record straight with a side-by-side comparison of what Moyo actually said versus what her critics claim she said.
Dams across the Mekong could trigger a “water war”
(June 25, 2009) For now, the lower stretches of the Mekong River remain a symbol of peace and tranquillity in a region that was once bloodied by war. But for how long? That question is gaining attention following fears expressed by environmentalists that plans to build 11 large hydropower dams on the mainstream of Southeast Asia’s largest waterway could trigger a “water war.”
China’s environment ministry said review needed for planned dam that threatens Yangtze fish
(June 25, 2009) China’s environment ministry said Thursday that it has ordered an ecological assessment for a proposed Yangtze River dam that conservationists fear could threaten hundreds of fish species and drive the giant Chinese sturgeon into extinction.
Finding the leaks in Kenya’s water sector
(June 24, 2009) After receiving loans from the World Bank last year, a recent report by Transparency International(TI) says Kenya’s water sector is riddled with corruption and inefficiencies—an allegation that the government seems to admit.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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