International
Myanmay: Mandalay Jade Traders Say Worst Year ‘Ever’ for Sales
Oct 28, 2015
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Hlaing Kyaw Soe, Myanmar Times
In interviews on October 25 at the Maha Aung Myay Gem Trading Centre, one trader after another bemoaned their current lot. Jade trader U Myo…
Climate Change: Climate Change Is a Major Security Threat but Old and Bold Don’t Get It
Oct 28, 2015
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Ian McPhedran, News.com.au
Climate change was a ‘sleeper issue’ for ageing defence brass because potential security impacts were 20 to 30 years away according to former Chief of…
Iraq/Kuwait: Kuwait Approves Iraq War Reparations Payment Delay to 2017
Oct 28, 2015
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Times Union
The official Kuwait News Agency reported Wednesday that the Gulf state agreed to give Iraq until January 2017 to pay the $4.6 billion reparations package following a…
China/Philippines/Vietnam/United States/South China Sea: Showdown in the South China Sea: How Did We Get Here?
Oct 28, 2015
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Euan McKirdy and Katie Hunt, CNN
Dotted with small islands, reefs and shoals, the South China Sea is home to a messy territorial dispute that pits multiple countries against each other.…
China/South China Sea: China Lambasts ‘Illegal’ U.S. Operation in South China Sea
Oct 27, 2015
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Keith Johnson and Dan de Luce, Foreign Policy
Chinese warships followed a U.S. destroyer sent to disputed islands in the South China Sea to assert the right to free navigation there, while Beijing…
Iraq/Turkey/Kurdistan: Iraq to Take Turkey to Arbitration over Oil Sold to Israel: Sources
Oct 27, 2015
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Today's Zaman
Baghdad is seeking arbitration proceedings against Ankara over a shipment of oil from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) allegedly sold to Israel that Turkey facilitated…
Philippines/Mindanao: Mindanao Land Grabs to Worsen w/ Govt 1-M has. Palm Oil Expansion plan
Oct 27, 2015
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Bohol News Today
The militant peasant organization Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) today joined the People’s Welcome (Salubungan) of the more than 700 Lakbayanis who travelled to Manila…
China/United States/South China Sea: South China Sea: China Slams US over Warship Sailing Near Artificial Islands; US Ambassador 'Summoned'
Oct 27, 2015
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ABC News
The United States has defied China by sending a warship close to a series of artificial islands it claims in the South China Sea, prompting…
Myanmar: Caterpillar Disputes Illicit Jade Ties, Says ‘Robust Screening’ Used
Oct 27, 2015
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Seamus Martov, The Irrawaddy
On the back of an explosive report into Burma’s jade trade, global construction giant Caterpillar has told The Irrawaddy that it took measures to ensure…
Iraq: How Climate Change Is Threatening Iraq’s Fragile Security
Oct 27, 2015
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John Knefel, The Nation
In a telling exchange during the first Democratic primary presidential debate earlier this month, the candidates were asked to articulate the greatest threat to US…
Myanmar: Chin State Faces Looming Food Shortage after Flood Crisis
Oct 26, 2015
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Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy
Three months after the nationwide flood disaster, civil society groups say that government has vastly underestimated the damage toll in Chin State, where locals are…
Liberia: Ellen Son’s Kosmos Energy to Inexpensively Purchase Oil Blocks 6&7 from US$30M to US$7M
Oct 26, 2015
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Global News Network
A local daily in Monrovia has reported that one of the sons of Liberian leader, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Robert A. Sirleaf has reportedly established a…
Liberia: Bomi County Citizens Decry Denial of Extractive Benefits
Oct 26, 2015
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FrontPageAfrica
A cross section of Civil Society Actors, citizens and interest groups of Bomi County has decried what they described as denial of benefits from extractions…
DRC: New DRC Mining Regulations Could Encourage Corruption
Oct 26, 2015
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Laura Cornish, Mining Review
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)is planning to remove “crucial regulations banning politicians and senior army figures” from owning mining rights. This is according to a…
Syria: US, Russian Jets Team Up for First Time to Destroy ISIS Oil Field, Pipelines in Syria
Oct 25, 2015
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Andre Mitchell, Christian Today
For the first time, the United States and Russia conducted combined airstrikes on an Islamic State-controlled oil field in Raqqa in eastern Syria, a major…
China/United States/South China Sea: US Patrols to Raise Stakes with Beijing in Disputed South China Sea
Oct 24, 2015
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Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom, Livemint
US plans to send warships or military aircraft within 12 nautical miles of China’s artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, possibly within days,…
Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Amid Anti-ISIS Coalition in Syria and Iraq, Oil Sales Earn $50M a Month for Islamic State
Oct 23, 2015
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Michael Kaplan, International Business Times
The Islamic State militant group brings in up to $50 million each month in oil sales, allowing the militants to prolong their control over large swathes…
Timor-Leste: A Stabilized East Timor Creating Opportunities for Foreign Businesses
Oct 23, 2015
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Sadachika Watanabe, Nikkei
East Timor is looking to upgrade its natural-resource and transportation infrastructure, creating new business opportunities for overseas construction companies and plant builders. As East Timor's…
Myanmar: Booming Chinese Demand for Jade Fuels Armed Conflict and Entrenched Corruption in Myanmar
Oct 23, 2015
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Ron Gluckman, Forbes Asia
Deals with Chinese companies financed modern equipment, and digging scaled up. So, too, did landslides and drug addiction among poor miners–many work, and die, scavenging…
DRC: Picks, Pans and Bare Hands: How Miners in the Heart of Africa Toil in Terrible Conditions to Extract the Rare Minerals that Power Your iPhone
Oct 22, 2015
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Nick Fagge, Daily Mail
Scraping through shovels-full of silt for the precious mineral with their bare hands, miners use these primitive methods to harvest coltan - the magical conductor…
South Sudan: Food Security Body IPC Warns of Famine in South Sudan
Oct 22, 2015
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Tom Miles, Reuters
South Sudan faces a serious risk of famine by the end of this year and 30,000 people are already classified as being in a food…
Myanmar: Burma Jade Trade: Former Junta Members Making Huge Profits While Locals Suffer Environmental Effects
Oct 22, 2015
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David Connet, Independent
A damning new report into the jade trade warns the precious stones are bringing misery and death to the people of Burma where it is…
Sudan/Darfur: Sudan President Bashir Confirms Referendum in Darfur Next Year
Oct 21, 2015
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Xinhua News Agency
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has announced that an administrative referendum in Darfur would be held in April 2016 to end controversy over the administrative status…
Africa: The Geopolitics: Africa’s Rich Oil-Curse or Blessings for the Inhabitants? ..A Diplomatic Analysis of the Chinese, West And Others’ Quest In Africa (Part 4)
Oct 21, 2015
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Josephus Moses Gray, Global News Network
"This might sound ridiculous”, but it is a glimpsing fact that oil’s curse can be avoidable and turn into fruitful and praiseworthy blessings; but the…
Iraq: Iraq Oil Refinery to Eliminate Liquid Waste with ZLD System
Oct 21, 2015
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WaterWorld
Iraq´s State Company for Oil Projeacts (SCOP) will use a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) to eliminate all liquid waste discharge from its Karbala refinery. Veolia´s…
Iraq: Is the Future of Iraq's Oil Industry Under Threat?
Oct 21, 2015
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Nick Cunnigham, OilPrice.com
Iraq is one of the major reasons why OPEC has been able to increase oil production over the past year, even as oil prices have…
Conflict Minerals: EU Conflict Minerals Regulation Not Expected until Mid-2016 – at the Earliest
Oct 20, 2015
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National Law Review
The Council of the EU is currently developing its position on the conflict minerals regulation as proposed by the European Parliament on May 20, 2015.…
Liberia: 45,000 Residents to Become Homeless
Oct 20, 2015
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E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor and Jonathan Browne, The New Dawn
About 45,000 residents, particularly squatters from the Industrial Park in Gardnerville have staged street protests here against a planned demolition next Monday, 26 October by…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Cholera Cases Grow, Spread to Kurdish Region
Oct 20, 2015
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Al Arabiya
The number of cholera cases in Iraq has risen to more than 1,800 as the epidemic spread to the northern autonomous Kurdish region, health officials…
Myanmar: Recent Floods Deal Devastating Blow to Agricultural Livelihoods and Food Security in Myanmar – UN
Oct 20, 2015
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United Nations
A new joint United Nations agency-Myanmar Government report paints a grim picture of the destruction caused by flooding in the country, where more than half…