No doubt you'd probably already heard about Norway writing off $80 million in foreign debt, though I hadn't put anything up here yet so thought I'd supply a run down of stories on this. I'm not totally convinced yet about debt relief since some countries have given much more in foreign aid over the years and to write off billions in loans seems a bit flippant. $80 million is a bit easier to do than $80 billion. I don't know, it just seems like a difficult thing to do, especially when some countries you may be writing off have been corruptly wasting that aid. But then can aid and loans even do the trick in the first place?

To the stories ...

*From Inside PCIJ, Norway's historic debt write off shows way for creditor nations.

*Norway's groundbreaking decision, from IFIWatchnet.

*Norway breaks silence on debt, from IPS.

Okay, so I'm a bit of a downer today ... from other aid news (mostly not doing much) ...

*World Bank to Egypt: You Stink.

*Afghanistan five years on ... poverty, violence, misery.

*Questions about where Canadian taxpayer money is going with aid to Afghanistan.

*U.S. dolls out $50 million for Jordan (which kind of makes Norway's $80 mil seem paltry, doesn't it?)

*Danish envoy warns aid agencies over fake relief supplies.

*Scotland increases aid package to Malawi.

*Geldof pushes UK for $400 million more foreign aid.

*Wake Forest students team up with World Bank Institute to study international development.