International

Global: Conflict Tops List of Global Risks

Dec 15, 2015 | Strategic Risk

A UNEP report supports the findings of the World Economic Forum that interstate conflict with regional consequences is now rated as the most likely of…

Ethiopia: Five Dead in Ethiopia Protests Sparked by Land Grab Fears

Dec 15, 2015 | Agence France-Presse

Ethiopia's government said Tuesday five people had died in weeks of protests sparked by land grab fears in the country's Oromia region, dismissing opposition reports…

Liberia: 6th EITI Report Shows Gains in Extractive Sector

Dec 15, 2015 | Omari Jackson, Liberian Observer

The Liberian government received more revenues than payments declared by eight reporting companies because of the net difference of U$5,361,233 or 2.9% of the total…

South Sudan: South Sudan, Rocked by Conflict and Economy Reeling from Falling Oil Prices, Devalues Currency by 84%

Dec 15, 2015 | Okech Francis and Neo Khanyile, Mail & Guardian Africa

South Sudan devalued its currency by 84% as the government abandoned efforts to fix the exchange rate and allowed the pound to trade freely, surrendering to…

South Sudan: New Report Exposes South Sudan’s War Machine, Offers Steps to Target Financial Interests and Counter Potential Spoilers

Dec 15, 2015 | South Sudan News Agency

Today, on the two-year anniversary of the start of South Sudan’s civil war, a new report by the Enough Project exposes the political and financial…

Climate Security: Climate Change Will Create More Violent Extremism, If We Let It

Dec 15, 2015 | Jessica Leber, Co.Exist

The protests and violent conflict in Syria that began in 2011 originally took U.S. security analysts by surprise. Early in the Arab Spring, the State…

Liberia: LEITI Report Reveals More Revenue, Less Payment

Dec 15, 2015 | Willie N. Tokpah, FrontPageAfrica

The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has released its sixth report with major reveling discrepancy of net differences of more revenues than payments declared by…

Iraq: Iraqi State Oil Firm Official Shot Dead in Kirkuk city: Police

Dec 14, 2015 | Reuters

Gunmen shot dead a senior employee of Iraq's state-run North Oil Company (NOC) on Monday, the third company official to be killed in the past…

Iraq: There is No Respite for Iraq’s Oil Industry

Dec 13, 2015 | Saadallah Al Fathi, Gulf News

Iraq’s oil revenues are now projected at $50 billion this year compared to about $84 billion in 2014 even though exports increased by about 0.5…

South Sudan: Camera Traps Snap First Photos of Endangered Elephants (and Other Rare Species) in South Sudan

Dec 11, 2015 | Earth Touch

Despite years of civil conflict in South Sudan, the nation’s wildlife seems to be persevering. A new camera trap survey has revealed that the country’s…

United States: SEC Proposes Rules for Resource Extraction Issuers under Dodd-Frank Act

Dec 11, 2015 | US Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to propose rules that would require resource extraction issuers to disclose payments made to the U.S. federal government…

Iraq/Kurdistan: War with Islamic State, Low Oil Prices Cripple Once-Vibrant Economy in Iraq's Kurdish Region

Dec 10, 2015 | Balint Szlanko, Associated Press

Less than two years ago, Iraq's northern Kurdish region was booming, as oil revenues poured in and foreign investors flocked to a rare island of…

Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Leaked Budget Document Provides Glimpse into How ISIS Makes Money [Audio]

Dec 10, 2015 | Stacey Vanek Smith, NPR

NPR explores how ISIS gets its money and why that makes it so hard to turn off the money spigot. It examines how ISIS makes…

Uganda: Family Members Abet Land Grabbing - Justice Bamwine

Dec 7, 2015 | Ephraim Kasozi and Juliet Kigongo, The Monitor

Despite the existence of formal land disputes resolution mechanisms in the country, property grabbing remains most pervasive because people involved in most disputes are family…

Liberia: Burkinabes and Ghanaians Entering Liberia's Virgin Forest to Harvest Licorice Root – Says FDA Boss, Harrison Karnwea

Dec 7, 2015 | Global News Network

The Managing Director of Liberian Forestry Development Authority has disclosed that people were coming from as far as Burkina Faso and Ghana and entering Liberia's…

Iraq/Islamic State: Iraq PM Says Turkey Main Conduit for Islamic State Oil-Smuggling

Dec 7, 2015 | Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Monday that most of the oil produced in Islamic State-held territory in Iraq and Syria was being smuggled…

Colombia: Arrests Point to Urabeños' Evolving Role in Colombia's Illegal Mining

Dec 7, 2015 | Michael Lohmuller, InSight Crime

Authorities in Colombia have dismantled a network of illegal mining operators allegedly working for drug trafficking group the Urabeños, providing further evidence of how the…

Liberia: As They Abandon Barren Land, Farmers Take Problems with Them

Dec 6, 2015 | Megan Rowling, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Creeping deserts, loss of trees, barren soils and water shortages are pushing poor farmers off their land from Africa to Latin America, forcing people to…

Mexico: Brutal Cartels Fight over Mexico's 'Conflict-Free' Gold Revenues

Dec 6, 2015 | Frank Jack Daniel, Anahi Rama, and Lizbeth Diaz, Reuters

Heroin traffickers linked to the abduction and disappearance of 43 students a year ago are battling over millions of dollars paid by Canadian mining giant…

Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Launches Investigation into Killing of Fisherman in Disputed Waters

Dec 4, 2015 | Koel Chu, Hong Kong Free Press

Vietnamese officials have begun an investigation into the death of a fisherman who was shot in disputed waters in the South China Sea. Sources claim that…

Water Wars: Water Wars at Core of ISIS, Syria, Israel-Palestine and Other Conflicts Reports Fresh Water Advocate Sharon Kleyne

Dec 4, 2015 | PRWeb

Water, not oil or gold, is the world’s most precious commodity. Water not only keeps every living organism alive, it is the basis for all…

Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Islamic State’s Moneymaking Streams Take a Hit as It Loses Territory

Dec 4, 2015 | Hugh Naylor, Washington Post

By most estimates, the Islamic State is the world’s richest terrorist organization. But it appears to be wrestling with money problems that could affect its…

Peru: Illegal Gold Miners in Madre de Dios, Peru, Paralyze the Region with Protests

Dec 4, 2015 | Ruxandra Guidi, Mongabay

Since November 23, the southeastern region of Madre de Dios in Peru has been paralyzed by street protests, road blockades, and tire burnings. Hundreds of…

Liberia: Taylor Land Dispute - Several Jailed in Tussle - Police Wounded

Dec 2, 2015 | Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, FrontPageAfrica

Former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor who is currently serving 50 years sentence in The Hague has requested the court to grant him damages on…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds Make $3.29bn from Direct Oil Sales

Dec 2, 2015 | Agence France-Presse

Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region said Tuesday it has made more than $3.29 billion in revenues since June from direct oil export sales that the country’s…

Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Maps Reveal Chain of ISIS Oil Smuggling Routes from Syria and Iraq into Turkey. Russian Defense Ministry

Dec 2, 2015 | Global Research

Russia’s Defense Ministry published images and a map it says reveal a chain of oil smuggling to Turkey from Islamic State – from extraction to…

Iraq/Turkey/Islamic State: Iraq to File Complaint against Turkey if Daesh-Ankara Oil Trade Confirmed

Dec 2, 2015 | PressTV

Baghdad says it will lodge a formal lawsuit against Ankara with the United Nations Security Council if claims are proved right that the Turkish government is…

Sierra Leone: AWDC Issues Alert over Fake Sierra Leone KP Certificate

Dec 1, 2015 | David Brummer, IDEX

The Antwerp World Diamond Center’s (AWDC) Diamond Office has alerted the Kimberley Process (KP) about the discovery of a false KP certificate from Sierra Leone.…

South Sudan: Bishops Call on South Sudan Government, Oil Companies to Clean up Pariang Spills

Dec 1, 2015 | Radio Tamazuj

The Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan has appealed to the government of South Sudan and oil companies to deal with the oil spills…

Algeria/Iraq/Libya/Nigeria/Venezuela: Oil Plunge Raises Fears of Societal Unrest

Nov 30, 2015 | Elizabeth MacDonald, FOXBusiness

With Wall Street shops like Goldman Sachs and government officials in Venezuela signaling oil could go to the mid-$20 per barrel range next year,…