International


China/United States/South China Sea: South China Sea: China Slams US over Warship Sailing Near Artificial Islands; US Ambassador 'Summoned'

Oct 27, 2015 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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…


Liberia: Rivercess County, Finance Ministry Exchange over Social Contributions

Oct 19, 2015 | Samwar S. Fallah, FrontPageAfrica

The oil blocks in the seas of Rivercess County have so far yielded some of the biggest payments from Liberia's oil industry. Two oil companies…


Liberia: Liberians Murmur over Submission of Four Oil Blocks to The House by Ellen

Oct 19, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, Global News Network

Liberians over the weekend murmured over the latest information from the office of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on the submission of other oil blocks to…


Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: How ISIS Built Its Own Multi-Million Dollar Industry by Attacking Oilfields [Video]

Oct 17, 2015 | Hari Sreenivasan, PBS

The militant group known as the Islamic State or ISIS controls huge amounts of territory in Iraq and Syria. And ISIS finances much of its…


Syria: Kerry: Climate Change Made the Syrian Civil War Far Worse

Oct 17, 2015 | Jacqueline Klimas, Washington Examiner

Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged Saturday that climate change didn't cause the Syrian conflict, but he said it did play a large role in…


Liberia: Parliament's Passage of Liberia’s Land Rights Act Urged

Oct 16, 2015 | James Butty, Voice of America

An international land rights group said Liberia risks a resurgence of social conflict unless the country’s legislature approves a Land Rights Act that is moving…


China/South China Sea: China Suggests Joint South China Sea Drills with Asean

Oct 16, 2015 | BBC

Beijing is currently hosting an informal meeting for defence ministers from the region. China's Defence Minister Chang Wanquan has suggested drills for "maritime rescues and…


Myanmar: Russia to Build Early Warning System for Natural Disasters in Myanmar

Oct 16, 2015 | Alexander Korablinov, Russia Beyond the Headlines

The Russian Emergencies Ministry will help Myanmar build an early warning system for natural calamities and supply it with equipment needed for clean-up operations, Vasily Pospelov, Russia’s ambassador…