(April 26, 2004) UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown hailed a breakthrough in securing more generous debt relief for the world’s poorest nations after the Bush administration signalled a softening of America’s position.
Wanted: A non-forgiving fund
(April 25, 2004) The spring meeting of the World Bank and the IMF has elicited demonstrations by well-intentioned NGOs wanting complete debt forgiveness for HIPCs. But this skirts a key question.
France to remit some Iraq debt
(April 25, 2004) France is prepared to cancel some of Iraq’s total external debt, estimated at more than $120 billion, French Finance Minister Nicholas Sarkozy said yesterday.
Activists assemble for IMF/World Bank meetings
(April 24, 2004) Activists have been converging on D.C. all week for a series of protests that culminate this weekend during meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
An audience with the Dalai Lama
(April 23, 2004) At a meeting with 10 other distinguished Canadians, Patricia Adams introduced the work of Probe International, particularly Probe’s efforts to stop destructive dam-building by the Chinese government, and its implications for Tibet.
Chinese journalist can’t forget nightmare of Tiananmen Square
(April 23, 2004) Looking back and looking forward. It is a preoccupation in China these days. The push forward is seen in the rapid economic reform and expansion that has made the nation with its teeming population the envy of many and a magnet for new investment. But the glance back is always there, too, as the ghosts of Tiananmen Square haunt the nation of 1.3 billion.
Activists say World Bank dam projects detrimental
(April 22, 2004) The World Bank is accelerating its funding for large dam projects to the detriment of the environment and locals in the countries where the projects are built, a report released on Thursday said.
Latin Americans losing faith in democracy
(April 22, 2004) UN polls shows more than half would choose a return to dictatorship if it meant an end to poverty.
Where have all the fish gone?
(April 21, 2004) The mighty Mekong is drying up – and so is the river’s rich harvest. Vast new dams in China could be to blame.
Oil for memories
(April 21, 2004) Having helped sustain and humor the tyranny and fraud of Saddam Hussein for years via the massively corrupt Oil-for-Food program, the United Nations has for the past year been seeking a new role for itself in Iraq.
Debt relief for poor faces $7.8 bln gap, US watchdog
(April 20, 2004) A debt relief program for the world’s poorest countries is facing a $7.8 billion funding shortfall, mostly from the World Bank, a U.S. Congressional watchdog told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Saddam cleaned up on UN’s ‘oil-for-palaces’ program
(April 20, 2004) The oil-for-food program was one of the larger rip-offs of all time. Under the UN’s nose, Saddam Hussein skimmed off billions.
Jews who fled Iraq to get compensation
(April 20, 2004) French insurance giant AXA has agreed to compensate Jews who owned property in Iraq and fled in the early 1950s, a precedent that could pave the way for reparations for some 850,000 Jews who left Arab countries, officials said Tuesday.
World Bank seizes on Iraq debt deal
(April 20, 2004) America’s determination to write off Saddam Hussein’s $90bn (£50bn) debt mountain has opened the door to a more generous deal for the most impoverished countries in Africa, the head of the World Bank said yesterday.
World Bank eyes Iraq debt deal for others – paper
(April 19, 2004) The prospect of the world community forgiving most of Iraq’s debt could be used as an opportunity for debt relief for other developing countries the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday quoted the World Bank as saying.


