International


Syria: Syrian Kurds Refine Oil for Themselves for First Time

Jul 30, 2015 | AFP

Smoke rises as crude oil is heated in Rmeilan oil field of Syria's Hasakeh province, where the Kurds, having fought off jihadists, are extracting and…


Liberia: Brown Debunks Global Witness 'Snake Oil' Report

Jul 30, 2015 | Wilfred Gortor, Liberia News Agency

Information Minister Lewis G. Brown has refuted reports by the advocacy group Global Witness that the Government of Liberia is involved in unwholesome acts such…


Myanmar: Myanmar Frees Loggers From China amid a Broader Amnesty

Jul 30, 2015 | Wai Moe

Days after a court in Myanmar sentenced more than 150 Chinese citizens to life in prison for illegal logging, resulting in objections from Beijing, the…


Thirsty Swiss Cows are Harbingers of (Water) War

Jul 30, 2015 | Mark Gilbert, Bloomberg View

A quarrel has broken out between Switzerland and France after the Swiss army was caught stealing water from a French lake. While Switzerland's aqua grab seems to…


Turkey: Turkish Oil Pipeline from Iraq Bombed

Jul 29, 2015 | Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International

For the second consecutive day, pipelines running through southern Turkey have become the target of militant campaigns drawing attention from NATO. Turkish Energy Minister Taner…


Philippines/Mindanao: FAO Helps Farmers in Conflict-Torn Mindanao Catch Planting Season

Jul 29, 2015 | GMA News

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched an assistance program to allow farmers in conflict-torn and disaster-hit Central Mindanao catch up with the first…


Sudan: Sudan Sees Hydropower Boost after Protests over Electricity Cuts

Jul 29, 2015 | Bassem Abo Alabass Mohamme, Bloomberg

Sudan plans to boost electricity output by about 15 percent with new hydropower equipment in the coming year as power cuts in the capital spur…


Sudan: Govt Signs Unprecedented Gold Exploration Agreement with Russia

Jul 29, 2015 | SudaNow

Sudan and Russia on Wednesday signed a gold exploration agreement, described by Khartoum as unprecedented. The agreement was signed at the Republican Palace, in the…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China's Maritime Actions a Cause for Global Concern

Jul 27, 2015 | Viet Nam News

China's construction of oil rigs and artificial islands in the East Sea were illegal, an international seminar was told in HCM City on Saturday. About…


Timor-Leste: Labor Backs Talks on New Maritime Boundary with East Timor

Jul 27, 2015 | Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald

A Labor government will enter into maritime boundary negotiations with East Timor, a move that would likely give the tiny half-island state a far greater share…


China/South China Sea: China Eyes New Cruise Link to Disputed South China Sea Islands

Jul 27, 2015 | Reuters

Chinese authorities plan to start a second cruise ship link to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday,…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Erbil-Baghdad Oil Relations Swing Between Deal, No Deal

Jul 27, 2015 | Mohammed A. Salih, Al Monitor

Encouraged by more international interest in purchasing its oil, coupled with the apparent failure of the federal Iraqi government to provide agreed-upon budget handouts, the autonomous…


Yemen: When War Creates Environmentalists

Jul 27, 2015 | Almigdad Mojalli, IRIN

As the war has intensified and fuel shortages have increased, a growing number of Yemenis are turning to solar power to see them through. Two…


Lebanon: Lebanese Seethe as Stinking Garbage Piles Grow in Beirut and Beyond

Jul 27, 2015 | Ben Hubbard, New York Times

Lebanon is suffering from a spreading garbage crisis that has left huge mounds of trash piling up across Beirut and elsewhere. Many Lebanese see it…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Chinese Ship Accused of Attacking Vietnamese Fishing Boats off Central Coast

Jul 25, 2015 | Hoang Trong, Thanh Nien News

Fisherfolk in Binh Dinh Province have said their boats were attacked by a Chinese ship while they were fishing in Vietnamese waters this week. Nguyen…


Uganda: Uganda's Farmers Battle Palm Oil Goliaths for Land

Jul 25, 2015 | Amy Fallon, AFP

Even before the bulldozers arrived life was tough for John Muyiisa, scratching a living from a rented farm on Lake Victoria's Kalangala island. Now he…


Iraq: Iraq's Southern Oil Exports Head for Another Record in July

Jul 24, 2015 | Alex Lawlor, Reuters

Iraq's southern oil exports have risen above 3.0 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in July, according to loading data and an industry source,…


Myanmar: Farmers Right’s Activist Jailed

Jul 24, 2015 | Soe Ya, Democratic Voice of Burma

Farmer’s rights advocate Su Su Nway has been jailed in Pegu Division after being charged with trespassing. As leader of the Myanmar Farmers Union, Su Su…


China/Japan/East China Sea: China Answers Japan Oil Rig Concern with Joint-Development Offer

Jul 24, 2015 | Bloomberg

China repeated a call Friday for talks with Japan over joint development of gas and oil resources in contested waters in the East China Sea.…


Zimbabwe: Mberengwa's Water Wars

Jul 23, 2015 | Sydney Kawadza, The Herald

Access to water degenerated into a long-drawn-out conflict pitting Mberengwa Rural District Council and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA). The conflict, easily equated to…


Conflict Minerals: New Conflict Minerals Social Responsibility Research Service Delivers Rating Reports

Jul 23, 2015 | SB Wire, Obian Group

Obian Group announces the introduction of the first professional research reports that analyze, rate and peer-compare corporations' Conflict Minerals Programs. Over 1,200 SEC-registered corporations and…


Syria: Bread Prices Up Nearly 90 per cent, Pushing More People into Hunger, UN Report Warns

Jul 23, 2015 | United Nations

Syria’s food production in 2015 remains at 40 per cent below its pre-crisis levels, impacting the price of bread, which has spiralled by 87 per…


Liberia: Palm Oil Firm Under Fire over Land Deals Sealed During Ebola Crisis in Liberia

Jul 23, 2015 | Holly Watt, The Guardian

A major palm oil company brought together scores of people in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak last year to sign over thousands of acres of…


Liberia: USAID FED Provides Power Tillers to 30 Youth Entrepreneurs

Jul 22, 2015 | Toweh Alphonso, The New Republic

On July 16, 2015 in Suakoko, Bong County, the USAID Food and Enterprise Development Program (USAID FED) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)…


Cambodia: Report Accuses Cambodian Elite of Land Grabbing Frenzy

Jul 22, 2015 | Lauren Crothers, Video News

Fresh documents alleging that Cambodia’s ruling elite continues to indulge in a “land grabbing frenzy” for self enrichment from the poor are being submitted to the International Criminal Court…


Namibia: Land Grabs Threaten Stability – NUNW

Jul 22, 2015 | New Era

The country’s largest trade union federation, the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), has urged the nation not to illegally occupy land on July 31, as…


Cambodia: Protesters Decry ‘Land Grabbing’

Jul 21, 2015 | Pech Sotheary, Phnom Penh Post

About 300 protesters from Svay Rieng and Preah Sihanouk provinces marched to parliament yesterday to file petitions urging the local authorities to intervene to resolve…


Rwanda: Rwanda is Biggest Exporter of Major Minerals in Region, Reports KT Press

Jul 21, 2015 | PR Newswire

Rwanda is producing more minerals than any country in the Great Lakes Region, says a global not-for-profit agency that has been dealing with the traceability,…


Georgia/Russia: Russia in ‘New Land Grab’ in Former Soviet State

Jul 19, 2015 | Associated Press

Hundreds of people are demonstrating outside government headquarters in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, urging authorities to halt talks with Russia in the wake…


South Sudan/Uganda/Rwanda: Kampala-Kigali Railway Project Derails

Jul 19, 2015 | Eric Kabeera, The Independent

The Kampala-Kigali leg of Standard Gauge Railway line, under the northern corridor infrastructure development initiative, may delay as Uganda shifts its priority to “a more…