Awards: Two Nominations for Fukushima Fish Radiation Story

Congratulations to me! My story in Vancouver's Georgia Straight weekly on how the Fukushima nuclear disaster affected the Pacific fishery has gotten nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists award for investigative reporting in the magazine category.

It was also nominated by the Western Magazine Awards for a prize in the environment category.

Thanks to Straight editors Charlie Smith and Martin Dunphy and publisher Dan McLeod for their unswerving support for investigative stories - one of Canada's last remaining bastions for this type of reporting.

Awards: Canadian Writers Take Note

Writers and editors in Canada take note. The fourth annual writing awards of the Professional Writers Association of Canada are now open for entries.

See more details here.

Investigative Journalism: Mine Deals "Looting" Congo

Interesting in-depth report here from Bloomberg Markets Magazine on Dan Gertler.

The 38-year-old Israeli billionaire built a fortune out of Congo's vast mineral riches thanks to his close personal relationship with Congolese president Joseph Kabila and lucrative deals that let Gertler purchase resources below their value, the Bloomberg report says.

Meanwhile, Congo remains one of the world's poorest and most corrupt countries. Governance is so bad the International Monetary Fund cut off loans worth $225 million U.S. because a lack of transparency in mining deals, according to IMF official Antoinette Sayeh, who is cited in the story.

"Dan Gertler is essentially looting Congo at the expense of its people," Congolese mining watchdog rep Jean Pierre Muteba tells Bloomberg. 

Gertler dismisses such critics, saying he aims to help Congo as well as himself. "At the end of the day, yes, I'm looking to create a lot of wealth," he is quoted saying.