Inbrief

One of the largest US pension funds has divested from companies with links to the Sudanese government over concerns about the genocide continuing in the country’s Darfur region. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) has sold about $60million (£37.4m, €41.6m) worth of shares in the Asian oil firms CNPC Hong Kong, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, PetroChina and Sinopec. The decision has come after the fund set an ultimatum last March for the companies to start using their influence on the Sudanese government to end the violence in Darfur.