International
Iraq/Kurdistan: KRG Gas Unlikely to Arrive in Turkey Earlier Than 2019
Sep 18, 2015
|
Ali Ünal, Daily Sabah
As the future of the Turkish Stream is still uncertain due to disagreements between Russia and Turkey, natural gas resources from the Kurdistan Regional Government…
DRC: Congo's Conflict Minerals: US Companies Struggle to Trace Tantalum, Tungsten, Tin, Gold in Their Products
Sep 18, 2015
|
Morgan Winsor, International Business Times
US firms are spending millions to comply with a complex provision in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that requires companies to divulge their use of…
Liberia: Imminent Land Crisis If… -As G/Gedeh Seeks Intervention
Sep 17, 2015
|
In Profile Daily
Grand Gedeh County Superintendent, Peter L. Solo, has made a passionate plea to United Nations Secretary General Special Representative to Liberia to help use diplomatic…
Myanmar: Surge in Illegal Logging by Chinese in Myanmar Alarms Activists
Sep 17, 2015
|
Tom Phillips, The Guardian
A torrent of illegal timber worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year is pouring across Myanmar’s border into China as loggers reach deeper into…
China/Philippines/South China Sea: China Reportedly Building Runway on Reef Near Philippine-Claimed Gas Field
Sep 17, 2015
|
Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
China appears to be building an airstrip on a dredged reef near an oil and gas field also claimed by the Philippines, a move that…
Iraq/Kurdistan: To Boost Local Production KRG Invites Bidders to Build Oil Refineries
Sep 16, 2015
|
Rudaw
In a bid to increase domestic refining capacity, the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) calls on interested companies in the oil refining industry to…
Japan/United States/Okinawa: Pentagon Blocks Report on ‘Toxic Contamination’ at Base Outside Okinawa Capital
Sep 16, 2015
|
Jon Mitchell, Japan Times
The U.S. military is refusing to release a report detailing environmental contamination at Camp Kinser, a 2.7-sq.-km U.S. Marine Corps supply base near Okinawa’s capital,…
China/Vietnam/Japan/South China Sea: Japan to Give Vietnam Boats, Equipment Amid China's Buildup
Sep 15, 2015
|
John Boudreau, Bloomberg
Japan will extend 100 billion yen ($832 million) in infrastructure aid to Vietnam and provide patrol boats as the two countries vow to expand ties…
Myanmar: Oil and Gas Experts Predict Burmese Boomtown
Sep 14, 2015
|
Democratic Voice of Burma
Despite the slump in energy prices, oil and gas fields in Burma will soon be the busiest in Asia as foreign and local investors begin…
Africa: African Nations Work Together to Rid Supply Chains of Conflict Materials
Sep 14, 2015
|
Alison Moodie, Guardian
A group of African nations have developed a framework that will make it easier for companies to keep conflict minerals out of their supply chains.…
Iraq: Iraq Warns Oil Companies of Spending Cuts
Sep 14, 2015
|
Kevin Baxter, Wall Street Journal
Iraq’s oil ministry has issued a stark warning to the international oil companies running its energy sector that it will slash spending in 2016 as…
Liberia: Two Foreigners, Ivorian and Burkinabe Arrested for Illegally Farming on Liberia Land, as 200 Chased Out
Sep 13, 2015
|
Cholo Brooks, Global News Network
A member of the Grand Gedeh Legislative Caucus, Representative Alex Grant of District #3 has disclosed that his citizens have arrested two foreigners, an Ivorian…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Watch Out China: Vietnam's Coast Guard Will Fight Back
Sep 11, 2015
|
Ankit Panda, The Diplomat
Starting October 20, 2015, Vietnamese coast guard vessels will be permitted to use on-board weapons to deter and repel foreign boats. According to a report by…
Myanmar: Shan Villagers and the Salween Dam Fight
Sep 11, 2015
|
Dana MacLean, The Diplomat
The increasing army presence to defend the construction of a controversial Salween river dam in southeastern Myanmar’s Shan state has sparked heightened concerns among rural…
Myanmar: Myanmar Third-Worst for Deforestation Rate, Says UN
Sep 11, 2015
|
Aye Sapay Phyu, Myanmar Times
Since 2010, Myanmar has lost more than 546,000 hectares (over 1.3 million acres) of forest on average each year, according to a report by the…
Liberia: A Transition into the New "Liberia Land Authority", a Priority That Requires Collective Efforts (part I)
Sep 11, 2015
|
Liberian Observer
Liberia’s land administration and management system has negatively impacted the socio-economic and political wellbeing of all Liberians. Property rights in land are characterized by weak…
DRC: New Scheme Seeks to Improve Tracking of DRC Minerals
Sep 9, 2015
|
Nick Long, Voice of America
The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is renowned for its mineral wealth, but much of that wealth is untapped, partly because of fears that mineral…
Liberia: Women Petition Senate to Pass Land Rights Bill
Sep 9, 2015
|
Liberia News Agency, Richard Stephens
A group of women under the banner of the Women NGO Network Tuesday converged on the Capitol Building to petition the Liberian Senate to speedily…
Liberia: Liberia's Bust State Oil Firm to Get 'Forensic' Uudit
Sep 9, 2015
|
AFP
Liberia's Senate ordered Wednesday a "forensic" audit of the bankrupt state oil company and vowed to punish anyone found to have negligently handled its finances.…
Mexico: Mexico Community Takes on Illegal Loggers
Sep 9, 2015
|
John Holman, Al Jazeera
Organised criminal gangs have helped make Mexico one of the worst victims of deforestation in the world. However, a small community is now taking on…
Myanmar: A Closer Look at Chin State’s Vulnerable Flood-Displaced
Sep 7, 2015
|
Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy
Hundreds of newly displaced families in this small village in Chin State wait hopefully for relief in temporary shelters after a landslide wiped away their…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan Says Paying $75 Million to Genel, DNO, Gulf Keystone
Sep 7, 2015
|
Isabel Coles and Stephen Kalin, Reuters
Iraq's Kurdistan region said on Monday it had allocated $75 million of revenue from its independent crude sales to oil exporting companies that have gone…
Syria: How Climate Change is Behind the Surge of Migrants to Europe
Sep 7, 2015
|
Aryn Baker, Time
More than 10,000 migrants and refugees traveled to Western Europe via Hungary over the weekend, fleeing conflict-ravaged and impoverished homelands in the hope of finding…
DRC: Companies Struggle to Comply with Rules on Conflict Minerals
Sep 7, 2015
|
Lynnley Browning, New York Times
A pink My Little Pony balloon does not usually evoke images of rifle-toting warlords in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Still, Party City Holdings, the…
Colombia: 47 Municipios de Cundinamarca Están en Riesgo de Sequía (47 Municipalities in Cundinamarca Are at Risk of Drought)
Sep 7, 2015
|
El Espectador
Este lunes, desde la Gobernación de Cundinamarca, advirtieron que 47 de 116 municipios del departamento están en alerta, debido al desabastecimiento de agua y a…
Angola: Foreign Oil Drillers Sour on Regulation-Happy Angola, Total Says
Sep 5, 2015
|
Candido Mendes, Bloomberg
Angola risks losing investment from foreign oil companies as costly government regulations and low world prices make the country, vying to be Africa’s largest producer,…
DRC: Is There Even Such a Thing as Conflict-Free Minerals?
Sep 4, 2015
|
Tom Clynes, Take Part
For decades, it has been impossible to distinguish processed tantalum that originated in DRC from other sources. The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative and other endeavors aim…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Chinese, Vietnamese Presidents Meet, Agreeing to Properly Handle Disputes
Sep 4, 2015
|
Claire Hopkins, Press Examiner
The two leaders said they are pleased with the development of the Vietnam-Laos relationship and cooperation on all fronts, including the recently signed trade agreements…
Myanmar: Myanmar Activist in Court as Land Crackdown Deepens, Rights Groups Say
Sep 4, 2015
|
Reuters
A prominent farmers' activist in Myanmar appeared in court on Friday in what watchdog organisations say is part of an escalating crackdown on land rights…
Afghanistan: Report: $1B Wasted in Afghan Refugee Crisis
Sep 3, 2015
|
Paul D. Shinkman, US News & World Report
Almost $1 billion in support from the U.S. government has done little to stem a refugee crisis in Afghanistan that has reportedly displaced millions of…