Following protests, US halts North Dakota oil pipeline construction

Washington/North Dakota

THE Obama administration stepped into a dispute last Friday over a planned oil pipeline in North Dakota that has angered Native Americans, appealing for calm while blocking construction on federal land and asking the company behind the project to suspend work nearby.

The move came shortly after US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington rejected a request from Native Americans for a court order to block the project. The government's action reflected the success of growing protests over the proposed US$3.7 …