"What we've been reading" Article
Wall St Journal - SocGen deals eyed by Libya
Officials working with Libya's new governing authority are examining whether any payments made by Société Générale SA as part of its business relationship with the Libyan Investment Authority ended up in the hands of people close to Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime, according to the Wall St Journal.
AFP - S. Sudan says oil cargo released but talks stalled
South Sudan's oil minister said on Saturday that an oil cargo detained by northern officials in Port Sudan in a row over duty payments had now sailed, but that negotiations over transit fees were stalled - read here.
Huff Post - Dodd-Frank Provision: Human Rights Groups Call On SEC To Finalize Rule
A major international anti-corruption provision in the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation remains stalled at the Securities and Exchange Commission, a year after the bill was passed by Congress and three months after the provision was supposed to go into effect, writes the Huffington Post. Human rights groups on Thursday called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to hurry up and issue a final rule instructing publicly traded companies listed on U.S.
Financial Times - Sudan’s oil gulf like a ‘poker game’
Two days before Sudan splits in two, negotiating teams have failed to agree how to divide the oil critical to the economies of north and south, as aid agencies warn the country is closest to war since a 2005 peace deal - read here.
New York Times - When the Nile Runs Dry
A new scramble for Africa is under way. As global food prices rise and exporters reduce shipments of commodities, countries that rely on imported grain are panicking. Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home, writes Lester Brown.
Guardian - Biofuels boom in Africa as British firms lead rush on land for plantations
British firms have acquired more land in Africa for controversial biofuel plantations than companies from any other country, write Damian Carrington and Stefano Valentino.
FT - Oil groups go to the ends of the earth
Oil groups are taking on greater political and physical challenges to exploit resources, writes Christopher Thompson in the Financial Times.
FT - Africa: ripe for reappraisal
African countries are increasingly viewed as a sound investment opportunities, writes William Wallis in the Financial Times
Foreign Policy - The New Geopolitics of Food
From the Middle East to Madagascar, high prices are spawning land grabs and ousting dictators, writes Lester Brown.
Reuters - Vigilance over politicians’ accounts urged as cash flows from Middle East
An international financial crime watchdog has been urged not to relax its stance on monitoring political officials in the light of the desperate scramble to freeze the assets of deposed leaders in the Middle East and North Africa, says Martin Coyle of Reuters. Read here.
For general enquiries please contact +44 (0)207 492 5820, mail@globalwitness.org.
For urgent out of hours enquiries please contact Andrea Pattison on +44 (0)797 010 3083.
