(December 26, 2005) As with the Three Gorges project, China’s south-north water transfer scheme would endanger a vast number of cultural relics. Sites to be submerged contain dinosaur-egg fossils dating back 60 million years and human skeletons from the Stone Age.
China detains 40 farmers on protests ahead of dam project
40 migrant farmers, forced from their villages by construction of the Three Gorges Dam, have been detained by police after protesting discrimination and hardship in their new homes in Qingdao, reports the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
Little clarity on how aid gets spent
(December 23, 2005) When Jan Egeland, the United Nations top disaster official, announced in March that PwC, the professional services firm, would help monitor the expenditure of funds collected under the UN’s $1.1-billion tsunami “flash appeal” he offered a simple gauge for what would result.
Iraq wins crucial IMF accord, $14 bln debt swap
(December 23, 2005) The $685 million IMF standby credit arrangement was the fund’s first ever with Iraq and is designed to support the nation’s economic program over the next 15 months.
Where has all the tsunami money gone?
(December 23, 2005) A lack of transparency doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything untoward happening with tsunami funds, or that the administrative costs are unduly high. What it does suggest, however, is that the UN’s accountability standards remain unacceptably low.
China sacrifices towns to a new god
Villagers along the Yangtze are reluctantly leaving home, John Schauble reports from Fengdu. No one is under any illusions that life will be the same, let alone any better.
Third of tsunami funds go on overheads
(December 22, 2005) A year after the Indian Ocean tsunami, up to a third of the $590 million so far spent under the United Nations’ $1.1 billion disaster flash appeal appears to have gone on administration, staff and related costs.
Switzerland cancels 80% of its Iraqi debt
(December 22, 2005) Switzerland has announced it has cancelled the equivalent of $US230 million of Iraqi debt, amounting to 80% of its claims towards Iraq.
IMF clears debt relief for 19 countries
(December 22, 2005) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to cancel $3.3-billion owed by 19 of the world’s poorest countries, after reports that it was back-tracking on the debt-relief plan sparked an outcry.
Korean firms to forego 80% of Iraqi debt
(December 21, 2005) Korean construction and shipping companies have agreed to write off up to 80 percent of outstanding debts on contracts signed with the Iraqi government in the ’70s and ’80s.
Jubilee USA relieved that IMF board approves debt cancellation for countries promised by G-8
(December 21, 2005) Jubilee USA reiterates its view that the G-8 debt agreement is but a first step towards conclusively addressing the debt crisis faced by impoverished countries.
Iraq’s debt solution ruffles feathers
(December 21, 2005) The restructuring of Iraq’s outstanding debt is entering a pivotal stage. However, not everybody is pleased with a process that has been moving ahead at a rapid speed.
New Yangtze dams spell disaster for fish
(December 21, 2005) A group of Sichuan University undergraduates has won accolades for a research project that warns of the serious threat that new dams planned for the upper Yangtze pose to the river’s wild fish, and the communities that depend on them.
When flood control means more than a dam
In China, the world’s largest dam impounds floodwater, but without other controls, erosion will persist.
Hyundai Engineering agrees to write off Iraq debt
(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.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 