President vows to nominate Supreme Court justice who will possess an 'independent mind'

Angelina Jolie is sure to get treated like a queen by her six adorable children on Mother’s Day

Lori Vallow, the Idaho mother jailed in connection to the disappearance of her two missing children, is also under investigation with her current husband in the death of his former wife.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a swipe at President Trump as she and fellow Democrats are plowing forward with another massive coronavirus relief package.

WA's multi-billion-dollar iron ore mines have kept operating throughout the coronavirus pandemic as Chinese demand continues — and experts say they could be what saves the Australian economy in the recovery.

Fruits  known as good sources for particular vitamins and minerals

 Bananas- the ripe fruit contains 27 percent of carbohydrate and is high in potassium, low in protein...

Participants in this multi-stakeholder meeting reviewed and discussed the implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and in the 3Ts supply chain to ensure that companies avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral or metal purchasing decisions and practices.

The European Commission has proposed an integrated EU approach to stop profits from trading minerals being used to fund armed conflicts. The package of measures aims to make it more difficult for armed groups in conflict-affected and high-risk areas to finance their activities through the mining of and trade in minerals.

This meeting provided the opportunity to review and discuss implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and the ICGLR Regional Certification Mechanism. Issues pertinent to the tin, tantalum and tungsten (3Ts) and gold supply chains were addressed during the three-day forum.

Participants at the forum adopted a communiqué calling for companies to confront challenges they encounter openly and transparently by publicly reporting on due diligence in accordance with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas

Beijing, 24 October 2014 - China presented guidelines intended to provide a roadmap for the responsible business conduct of Chinese companies operating overseas. In addition, China and the OECD signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the implementation by Chinese companies of responsible business conduct in global mineral supply chains.

This meeting provided the opportunity to review and discuss implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, the ICGLR Regional Certification Mechanism, and other initiatives to enable responsible mineral supply chains. Issues pertinent to the tin, tantalum and tungsten (3Ts) and gold supply chains were also addressed during the Forum.

Global FDI flows collapsed with the global financial crisis in 2008 and remain 40% below pre-crisis levels. A major reason for this is the EU. While FDI flows in the rest of the world recovered by 2010, the EU continues to struggle due to structural factors that are undermining the quality of the EU’s investment environment. The paper analyses why and puts forward policy options. It is part of the Investment Insights series.

The German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), supported by the OECD, has initiated a study to assess the contribution of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to due diligence for responsible mineral supply chains. To gather information for this study, SMEs were invited to take part on a confidential survey of due diligence activities by SMEs.

This public consultation is being held to gather comments on the draft Chinese Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains. They are intended to align Chinese company due diligence with international standards and allow for mutual recognition with existing international initiatives and legislations.

Focused mainly on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this report takes stock of 5 years of implementation of national and international programmes and initiatives designed to operationalise the recommendations of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance on Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa.

This meeting will provide the opportunity to discuss the role of governments, international partners and businesses in promoting responsible mineral supply chains from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Participants will learn first hand about international standards and approaches, and be able to ask questions to experts in supply chain due diligence implementation.

10-12 May, Paris: The 2016 forum focused on compliance and implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, including how to maximise the positive impacts on livelihoods through due diligence; viable options for trade in artisanal and small-scale mined gold; and identifying and preventing the worst forms of child labour in the mineral supply chain.

Practical actions for companies to identify and address the worst forms of child labour in mineral supply chains is for use by companies to help them identify, mitigate and account for the risks of child labour in their mineral supply chains. It builds on the due diligence framework of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

The OECD Due Diligence Guidance is being used as the basis and benchmark by many industry initiatives created to ensure the responsible sourcing of minerals. This report presents the findings of a pilot alignment assessment of five industry programmes against the recommendations of the OECD Guidance to gauge the coherence, effectiveness and credibility of these initiatives.

Efforts to document government support benefiting specific sectors or industries have paid scant attention to support given to the non-energy minerals sector. The issue of support for this sector is explored by way of a case study of Australia, a leading producer and exporter of minerals.

Raw materials are essential for the global economy and future development depends on their continued supply. Like fossil fuels, minerals are non-renewable. In general, their deposits in the Earth’s crust are also geographically clustered, making security of supply a potential risk. The purpose of this report is to perform for the first time an analysis of critical minerals for the OECD countries as a whole.

Despite its importance, regular measurement of the value of natural resources at national level is still in its infancy and often disconnected from valuation approaches for other assets.

The higher the level of education, the higher the salary cost of teachers per student. In Belgium (Flemish Community), France and Spain, the difference in the annual salary cost between the primary and upper secondary levels of education exceeds USD 1 800 in 2010.

In the 2012 PISA test, urban students in Latvia outperformed rural students by the equivalent of more than a year of schooling – half a year more than the average performance difference between these two groups of students across OECD countries.

The roles include machinery and production operators, truck drivers, mechanics, electricians, boilermakers, cleaners and warehouse roles.

She welcomed daughter Harper May with husband Karl Stefanovic on May 1.

Antonio Conte is thought to be desperate to reunite with the midfielder after failing to sign him last summer and in the January window earlier this season.

Suman Ghosh's documentary about the Nobel Laureate has not found its way to many screens yet. Nonetheless, it is a noteworthy effort to bring the economist a little closer to the people. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Archives, Room Use Only - PN6231.T4 L54 1882

Archives, Room Use Only - R857.E49 I58 1886

Request for registering retailers, construction professionals as MSMEs to be examined: Gadkari

Mineral inclusions in natural diamond are widely studied for the insight that they provide into the geochemistry and dynamics of the Earth's interior. A major challenge in achieving thorough yet high rates of analysis of mineral inclusions in diamond derives from the micrometre-scale of most inclusions, often requiring synchrotron radiation sources for diffraction. Centering microinclusions for diffraction with a highly focused synchrotron beam cannot be achieved optically because of the very high index of refraction of diamond. A fast, high-throughput method for identification of micromineral inclusions in diamond has been developed at the GeoSoilEnviro Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (GSECARS), Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, USA. Diamonds and their inclusions are imaged using synchrotron 3D computed X-ray microtomography on beamline 13-BM-D of GSECARS. The location of every inclusion is then pinpointed onto the coordinate system of the six-circle goniometer of the single-crystal diffractometer on beamline 13-BM-C. Because the bending magnet branch 13-BM is divided and delivered into 13-BM-C and 13-BM-D stations simultaneously, numerous diamonds can be examined during coordinated runs. The fast, high-throughput capability of the methodology is demonstrated by collecting 3D diffraction data on 53 diamond inclusions from Juína, Brazil, within a total of about 72 h of beam time.

British Geological Survey recreates Great Britain in Minecraft  Eurogamer.net

BGS Mineral Planning Factsheet updated  Agg-Net

Rice AKR in the apo structure reveals the ordered open conformation and its key residues which form the substrate channel wall and determine its substrate preference for straight-chain aldehydes.

In the title compound, [CuCl2(C9H18N4)]·CH3OH, the central CuII ion is coordinated by three N atoms from the pyrazole derivative ligand and two chloride co-ligands. The coordination geometry around the CuII ion is distorted trigonal–bipyramidal. In the crystal, the mol­ecules are linked by C—H⋯O, C—H⋯Cl and O—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional framework with the lattice solvent mol­ecule.

The title compound {systematic name: [2-(1H-indol-3-yl)eth­yl](meth­yl)propyl­amine}, C14H20N2, has a single mol­ecule in the asymmetric unit. The mol­ecules in the unit cell are held together in infinite one-dimensional chains along [010] through N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds between indole H atoms and tri­alkyl­amine N atoms.

In the title compound, C12H8N4O2, the dihedral angle between the phenanthroline ring system and the nitro group is 23.75 (14)°. The mol­ecule features intra­molecular N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. In the crystal, N—H⋯(N,N), C—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into [100] chains.

In the title compound, C16H19NSe, the dihedral angle between the benzene rings is 66.49 (12) and a weak intra­molecular N—H⋯Se hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring. In the crystal, weak N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into [100] chains.

In the title compound, C17H18N4O2, the dihedral angle between the pyridine and benzene rings is 55.68 (11)°. In the crystal, N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into [010] chains.

The title compound, C12H10N2O2S, was synthesized via the acid-catalyzed condensation of 4-nitro­aniline and 5-methyl-2-thio­phene­carboxaldehyde in a methanol–water solution. The dihedral angle between the benzene and thio­phene rings is 54.62 (3)°. No directional inter­actions could be identified in the extended structure.

In the title compound, [Cd4Cl8(C6H16N2)4], the Cd2+ cations and Cl− anions form M4Cl8 clusters with six of the Cl− ions bridging Cd2+ cations and two being pendant. Each Cd2+ cation has distorted octa­hedral coordination completed by four Cl− ions and two N atoms of the asymmetrical bidentate amino ligand. The cluster consists of pairs of face-sharing hexa­hedra linked by a shared edge.

The title hemihydrate, C12H9N5·0.5H2O, was isolated from the condensation reaction of quinoline-2-carbaldehyde with 4-amino-4H-1,2,4-triazole. The Schiff base mol­ecule adopts an E configuration about the C=N bond and is approximately planar, with a dihedral angle between the quinoline ring system and the 1,2,4-triazole ring of 12.2 (1)°. In the crystal, one water mol­ecule bridges two Schiff base mol­ecules via O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The Schiff base mol­ecules are inter­connected by π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid-centroid distances of 3.7486 (7) and 3.9003 (7) Å] into columns along [1overline{1}0].

In the title compound [systematic name: 5-methyl-1,3-bis­(2-oxoprop­yl)pyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione], C11H14N2O4, the two 2-oxopropyl groups are nearly perpendicular to the planar thymine unit. One methyl group of oxopropyl substituent is disordered. In the crystal, C—H⋯O inter­actions help to connect the mol­ecules into (001) layers.

The structure of the tertiary amine tris­(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylmeth­yl)amine (C24H21N7, abbreviated ntb) has been previously reported twice as solvates, namely the monohydrate and the aceto­nitrile–methanol–water (1/0.5/1.5) solvate, both with the tripodal conformation formed via multiple hydrogen bonds. Now, we report the tri­methanol adduct, ntb·3CH3OH, where the amine has the stair conformation featuring one benzimidazole group oriented in the opposite direction from the other two. The asymmetric unit contains one-half amine, completed through the mirror plane m in space group Pmn21 to form the ntb mol­ecule, with the H atom for each imidazole moiety equally disordered between both N sites available in the imidazole ring. The asymmetric unit also contains one and a half methanol mol­ecules, one being placed in general position with the hy­droxy H atom disordered over two sites with occupancy ratio 1:1, while the other lies on the m mirror plane, and has thus its hy­droxy H atom disordered by symmetry. As in the previously reported solvates, all imine and amine groups of the ntb mol­ecules and the methanol mol­ecules are involved in N—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. In the title compound, however, the involved H atom is systematically a disordered H atom provided by an imidazole group or a methanol mol­ecule.