A quarter of all independent countries on planet are resource rich. The 58 states produce 85% of world’s petroleum, 90% of the diamonds and 80% of copper with total profits from their extractive sector totaling more than $2.6 trillion.According to the Resource Governance Index (RGI), in 41 countries out of the group the extractive sector contributes a third of their GDP. And the future of these countries heavily depends on how effective they govern their resources.Norway takes the top ranking followed by the United States and the United Kingdom, all three majoring in hydrocarbon extraction. Russia comes 22 in the ranking, dragging behind its neighbor Kazakhstan and major South American energy states. Among the countries with the worst natural resource governance are Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkmenistan, and Myanmar concludes the ranking. The Index shows a striking governance deficit in natural resources management worldwide with only 11 countries on the list scoring satisfactory. The RGI evaluates four key components of resources governance in each country: institutional and legal setting, reporting practices, safeguards and quality controls and enabling environment. It also takes into account data from the World bank, advocacy groups, including Transparency International and various ecology watchdogs.The Index is based on the assertion that a good governance of natural resources provides successful development of country and is designed to serve as a tool to help identify good practices as well as governing failure.The Revenue Watch Institute is a unique organization of its kind exclusively dedicated to address the problems of countries that are rich in natural resources. … Read More
Rusal’s new director entangled in Hong Kong trading scandal
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has opened as case against HKMEx for using US dollar-dominated gold futures in 2011, which is seen as an attempt to ‘steal’ commodity deals from other trading floors.The SFC statement on May 21st says “the suspected irregularities are serious ones”, and HKMEx surrendered its trading license earlier in the month.According to some sources, Cheung borrowed large sums of money from the Hong Kong business and hasn’t yet paid back his loans, an accusation which he denies.Cheung stepped down from his official obligations on Tuesday, after the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), in partner with local police, raided to the HKMex office and seized several electronic records as evidence of false documentation in trading securities.Following the seizure, police arrested three men that aren’t current or former employees of HKMEx, according to Cheung. Police arrested another unidentified man by the surname ‘Zhu’ on Wednesday, on suspicion he possessed instruments used to falsify documents.Cheung, 54, has chaired the HKMEx Executive Council since it was founded in 2006, and hasn’t been accused of any crime, and says he will fully cooperate with the investigation.Cheung said he is the HKMEx’s largest shareholder.The Russian Oligarch DanceThe board of Rusal nominated and approved Cheung as an independent director at Rusal in 2012 and he was elected Chairman after billionaire Vicktor Vekselberg resigned in March.According to the company’s website, Mr. Cheung remains on the Board of Directors of Rusal.Vekselberg quit on March 12 2013 as chairman of Rusal, citing the company’s deep crisis brought on by rival oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Other members accused Vekselberg of ‘jumping ship’ because for one year prior to his resignation, he had disengaged from company activities- he didn’t even attend board meetings.Barry Cheung of the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange was nominated and approved by the board 4 days after he quit.Sual Partners, headed by Victor Vekselberg, owns 15.8 per cent of Rusal and proposed a resolution that Cheung be replaced as head.The shareholders meeting of Rusal will be held on June 14, when the board is due to re-elect seven directors whose term expires.Cheung, a former McKinsey and Co. employee received his MBA from Harvard Business School. … Read More
Bombshell: Govt Official Says Hillary Spearheaded Benghazi Review, Not Independent Board
He is now indicating that the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her staff were the ones that led the review of the Benghazi attacks by perpetrating the flaws in the process of the review, not an independent board. … Read More
Rand Paul: There’s Going to Have to Be an Independent Investigation of “Un-American” IRS Scandal
Speaking at a GOP fundraiser in the important election state of New Hampshire, Senator Rand Paul called for an independent investigation into the IRS targeting scandal that has lead many to further distrust the government. … Read More
‘Shocking incompetence’: UK health officials threw away £74m of bird flu ‘wonder-drug’
The figures, revealed by the National Audit Office (NAO), demonstrate a “shocking example of incompetence”, according to Public Accounts committee chairwoman Margaret Hodge.Prompted by several public panics over possible avian flu pandemics in the mid-2000s, the UK government decided to create a national stockpile of Tamiflu (produced by Swiss company Roche) and Relenza (made by London-based GSK) – two relatively new and supposedly revolutionary drugs that neutralized the flu virus.Between 2006 and 2013 40 million units of Tamiflu alone were purchased. A quarter of those had to be written off.During the pandemic of swine flu (which turned out to be less deadly than the common variant) in 2009 and 2010 the Department of Health panic-bought up huge emergency supplies as governments competed with each other to secure the dwindling supply.It did not possess the logistical and storage capacities, and distributed about 6.5 million units to the NHS. When the demand failed to appear, these had to be written off, as no one could guarantee that they had been preserved in appropriate conditions.“There is simply no excuse for this waste,” Hodge told parliament.More importantly, there are growing questions about the efficacy of the thirty million of the units that were used.”Although Tamiflu speeds up recovery times, experts do not agree over its ability to reduce complications and hospitalizations,” said Hodge.Roche had persistently refused to release data on more than a fraction of (successful) clinical trials of Tamiflu (generic name oseltamivir), which has been on the market since 2002, until leading independent medical research independent research group Cochrane Collaboration started encouraging governments to sue the Swiss company. Roche finally relented, and promised to hand its research data to Cochrane last month.The Department of Health promised to “consider the recommendations of the NAO” report, but stood by its anti-flu policies.”The UK is recognized by the World Health Organization as being one of the best prepared in the world for a potential flu pandemic,” said a statement. … Read More
Latvian authorities ‘try to silence’ journalist with criminal charges over controversial law report
Russian-speaking freelancer Khramtsov was commissioned by a St. Petersburg channel to produce a report on a new law passing through the Latvian parliament that bans people from exhibiting either Soviet or Nazi symbols in public.The law, which parliament initially tried to rush through ahead of 9 May commemorations (the day when Germany surrendered to the USSR at the end of World War II) has attracted controversy, particularly among the ethnic Russian minority, which constitutes more than a quarter of the population. Soviet-era symbols, such as Red Army uniforms and crimson flags, have been a staple of the celebrations, even after the secession of Latvia from the USSR.The date is highly politicized in the country, with the authorities refusing to celebrate it as Victory Day, since independent Latvia was invaded by the USSR in 1940, then by Nazi Germany the following year, before reverting to Soviet control at the end of the war.Khramtsov told RT that he arranged to meet several ethnic Russian Communist sympathizers in a town square on May 7, to discuss whether they would obey the law once it is passed. The small group of men arrived with Soviet flags, but Khramtsov says they refused to be filmed, afraid of future police prosecution. After an informal discussion, Khramtsov claims the group dispersed peacefully.The following day Khramtsov was called up to a police station, where he was charged with organizing mass disorder and staging a provocation, with a video of the previous day’s meeting, filmed from a nearby police car, cited as evidence.Khramtsov says he was not encouraging the men to break the law, but merely doing his job. It is also notable that the law went through its second reading on May 16, and faces one more, before it comes into force, making it difficult to ascertain what Khramtsov’s exact misdemeanor might have been“What has happened gives me a horrible feeling. I don’t know if it is someone just trying to earn a promotion at my expense, or if, more unfortunately, authorities in what is supposedly a free country and an EU member are trying to silence the media,” the journalist told RT in a phone interview.Anda Rozuklane, the chief of the Latvian Journalists Association has spoken out in defense of Khramtsov.“If there is evidence that the journalist was doing anything other than compiling a story, it should be made public, but it does not seem to exist. We think this is a disproportionate action, intended to intimidate Khramtsov,” she told Russia’s Interfax news agency.Khramtsov has been a persistent thorn in the side of the authorities in recent times.Three years ago he filmed an expose, showing how easy it would be for terrorists to target Riga’s landmarks. His report showed him making a bomb from easily obtained ingredients, before smuggling a mockup of an explosive device into public spaces. He won a local award “for contributing to press freedom”, but authorities charged him with keeping and transporting explosives.The case was thrown out of court earlier this year.“I think the police are angry with me for that last incident – and are trying to exact their revenge”Khramtsov says subtle pressure and discouragement are commonplace weapons against all journalists whose views diverge from those of dominant politicians, and particularly those who challenge the nationalist anti-Soviet narrative adopted in Latvia since independence in 1991.“I think this constitutes bullying by the authorities. They have no evidence against me, but they are wasting my time, even though the case will never get to court.”In the most recent World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters without Borders Latvia was ranked 39th, below the other Baltic states, but ahead of the other former Soviet republics. It was ranked as high as 13th in previous years, but a string of high-profile incidents have dented Latvia’s reputation. … Read More
Somaliland hopes for independence
http://www.youtube.com/v/qTT0hWn5LTI?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata More: Somaliland hopes for independence
