| INDONESIA: Burger King drops Indonesian palm oil supplier by Anthony Deutsch, Financial Times September 4th, 2010 Burger King will stop using palm oil from a leading Indonesian supplier due to concerns about environmental damage. |
| CONGO: Congo Planning First Quantum Financial Misconduct Probe by Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires September 4th, 2010 Congo intends to launch a probe into financial misconduct at First Quantum Minerals Ltd.'s (FM.T) operations in the country shortly after the miner suspended operations at the Frontier mine. |
| USA: In Mott’s Strike, More Than Pay at Stake by Steven Greenhouse, New York Times August 23rd, 2010 After nearly 90 days of picketing in the broiling sun outside the sprawling Mott’s apple juice plant here in upstate New York, Michelle Muoio recognizes that the lengthy strike is about far more than whether the 305 hourly workers at the plant get a fatter or slimmer paycheck |
| SOUTH AFRICA: Sasol Accused of Polymer Price Fixing by Regulators by Carli Lourens, Business Week August 16th, 2010 Sasol Ltd., the biggest producer of motor fuels made from coal and gas, was accused of price fixing in the polymer market by South Africa’s Competition Commission, which recommended a fine of 10 percent of annual sales. |
| WORLD: Food-Commodity Speculation by Banks Caused Hunger, Group Says by Rudy Ruitenberg, Bloomberg August 5th, 2010 Speculation in agricultural commodities by banks caused hunger during the 2008 food crisis by amplifying price surges, World Development Movement said. |
| USA: Target boycotted for donating $150,000 to MN right-wing Republican Tom Emmer's campaign for governor by Meena Hartenstein, New York Daily News August 5th, 2010 In the wake of the company's decision to donate $150,000 to a right-wing conservative's political campaign, former Target shoppers across the country are calling for a nation-wide boycott. |
| EUROPE: Europe Clears Import of New Biotech Corn Varieties by Reuters, New York Times July 29th, 2010 The European Commission on Wednesday approved six genetically modified corn varieties for import to the bloc, another sign of its desire to speed decision-making on the controversial technology. |
| IRAQ: GE Settles Iraq Kickback Case for $23 Million by David M. Katz, CFO Magazine July 27th, 2010 General Electric has agreed to pay $23.4 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it violated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act accounting and internal-controls provisions. |
| HAITI: Haitian Farmers Leery of Monsanto's Largesse by Peter Costantini, Inter Press News Service (IPS) July 1st, 2010 |
| USA: Banned Trailers Return for Latest Gulf Disaster by Ian Urbina, New York Times July 1st, 2010 |
| MEXICO: Banks Financing Mexico Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal by Michael Smith, Bloomberg June 30th, 2010 Wachovia admitted it didn’t do enough to spot illicit funds in handling $378.4 billion for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. That’s the largest violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money-laundering law, in U.S. history -- a sum equal to one-third of Mexico’s current gross domestic product. |
| USA: Supreme Court says biotech alfalfa ban was too much by Philip Brasher, Des Moines Register June 23rd, 2010 In its first case involving a biotech crop, the Supreme Court ruled 7-1 Monday that a federal judge went too far when he ordered the planting ban while requiring the Agriculture Department to conduct an environmental impact study of the crop. |
| USA: Louisiana demands justice, not charity by James Carville, CNN June 16th, 2010 |
| USA: The Other Victims of Battlefield Stress; Defense Contractors’ Mental Health Neglected by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica June 10th, 2010 |
| LIBERIA: Corrupt Local Officials Complicity - 2011 Threatens Mittal Social Development Fund by Samwar S. Fallah, Front Page Africa June 10th, 2010 There are growing fears ahead of the pending 2011 general and presidential elections that funds provided by world leading steel giant Arcelor Mittal as Social Development Fund could be used to finance the campaign of politicians in three counties-Bong, Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties. |
| AFGHANISTAN: Lost in Limbo - Injured Afghan Translators Struggle to Survive by Pratap Chatterjee, ProPublica June 10th, 2010 |
| GUATEMALA: Goldcorp mining company accused over human rights by Bill Law, BBC News June 3rd, 2010 A human rights assessment report has painted a harsh portrait of the Canadian gold mining giant Goldcorp. |
| LIBERIA: Hunting for Liberia’s Missing Millions by Doreen Carvjal, New York Times May 30th, 2010 How much money did Charles G. Taylor, the deposed president of Liberia, siphon out of his war-shattered country, and where is it? Investigators are developing a new strategy involving filing civil damage claims against companies, governments and international banks that they contend aided Mr. Taylor in illegal transactions. |
| NIGERIA: Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it by John Vidal, The Guardian (UK) May 30th, 2010 With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. More oil is spilled from the delta's network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the current BP/Transocean oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. |
| US: Nature Conservancy faces potential backlash from ties with BP by Joe Stephens, Washington Post May 24th, 2010 The Nature Conservancy faces a problem: a potential backlash as its supporters learn that BP and the world's largest environmental organization long ago forged a relationship that has lent BP an Earth-friendly image and helped fund the Conservancy. The crude emanating from BP's well threatens to befoul a number of alliances between energy conglomerates and environmental nonprofits. |