PARIS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - French nuclear fuels company Orano said on Wednesday that authorities in Niger have taken control of its Somair uranium mine as the military-led government steps up pressure on foreign investors in the West African country.

Orano, which owns about 63% of the mine, said in a statement that decisions taken at Somair board meetings were no longer being applied. Niger owns the remaining stake in Somair.

"Orano is today confirming that Nigerien authorities have taken operational control of the company," it said.

The business climate for international companies in Niger, which accounts for about 4% of global output of uranium, has become uncertain after a military coup last year.

Uranium is the most widely used fuel for nuclear energy and Orano, which has operated mines in Niger for years, vowed to "defend its rights before competent bodies" in order to allow Somair to operate normally, without giving details.

Officials at the Niger embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Niger accounted for about 15% of Orano's uranium supplies when its mines were operating at full capacity. The company has said the halt in exports from Niger has been fully offset by a ramp-up of mines in Canada and Kazakhstan.

In June, Orano said Niger had removed a mining permit for its Imouraren subsidiary. Canada's GoviEx Uranium (GXU.V) said it had been stripped of its right to develop a uranium project in Niger in July.

Orano said it has been warning for several months of interference in governance at Somair, where it was forced to suspend production after authorities halted exports last year.

It said a resolution adopted by the Somair board on Nov. 12 to suspend expenditure related to production to preserve funds for salaries was being deliberately ignored and this was "further deteriorating the company's financial situation".

DAKAR, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Australian gold miner Resolute Mining (RSG.AX) , opens new tab confirmed on Sunday that the company's CEO Terence Holohan and two other employees have been temporarily detained by government officials in Mali.

The executives were in Bamako to hold discussions with the mining and tax authorities regarding general activities related to the company's business practices in Mali.

"Following the conclusion of these meetings on Friday, the three employees were unexpectedly detained," Resolute said in a statement.

"While Resolute is working toward a settlement with the Government of Mali to help secure the long-term future of the Syama Gold Mine, the utmost priority remains the safety and wellbeing of its employees."

link a better source if yall find one, not many western reports on this
also this is just a mock-up, doesn't mean much by itself

thx @Tomboymoder@hexbear.net

damn.

may god bless his soul and the people of Lebanon.

how are yall? only comment with emojis

@Civility@hexbear.net

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3470083

BAMAKO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will introduce new biometric passports as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favour of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries, Mali's leader said on Sunday.

The three junta-led Sahel neighbours jointly announced in January they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has sought to persuade them to reconsider their decision.

Burkina Faso announced earlier this month that it was rolling out new passports without the ECOWAS logo.

"In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonising travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world", Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening.

He spoke ahead of a meeting Monday between the three countries' foreign ministers on the anniversary of the decision to form their own alliance. Goita also said they were planning to launch a shared information channel "in order to promote a harmonious dissemination of information in our three states."

ECOWAS has warned that the three countries' withdrawal would undermine the freedom of movement and common market of the 400 million people living in the 49-year-old bloc.

Their departure comes as their armies battle groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, whose insurgencies have destabilised the region over the past decade and threaten to spill over into coastal West African states.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3384817

link that was attached to original post (1st ever ActivityPub), original post is linked in this post

The obvious choice for ActivityPub’s birthday would be the 23rd of January 2018 - the day it was annointed as a W3C recommendation. That doesn’t seem quite right though - its not as if the spec came into existence in any sense upon that date. In fact, Mastodon implemented it before thne.

There are several possible dates you might pick, but for me it will always be September 5th 2014 - when I committed the first sketch of a specification I called ActivityPump [github.com] and pushed it to Github

It wouldn’t be until November that I actually submitted (a revised and enhanced version of) that draft to the working group, but even then I had the very nucleus of the specification written down.

Happy 10th birthday, ActivityPub. 🍰

link that was attached to original post (1st ever ActivityPub), original post is linked in this post

The obvious choice for ActivityPub’s birthday would be the 23rd of January 2018 - the day it was annointed as a W3C recommendation. That doesn’t seem quite right though - its not as if the spec came into existence in any sense upon that date. In fact, Mastodon implemented it before thne.

There are several possible dates you might pick, but for me it will always be September 5th 2014 - when I committed the first sketch of a specification I called ActivityPump [github.com] and pushed it to Github

It wouldn’t be until November that I actually submitted (a revised and enhanced version of) that draft to the working group, but even then I had the very nucleus of the specification written down.

Happy 10th birthday, ActivityPub. 🍰