International


Myanmar: New China-Myanmar Oil Pipeline Bypasses Malacca Trap

Jan 30, 2015 | The Hindu

China has taken a firm step to beef up its energy security by inaugurating a pipeline that will bring crude oil from a deepwater port…


Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam, Philippines Boost Ties to Counter China in Territorial Dispute

Jan 30, 2015 | Geann Pineda, China Topix

The Philippines and Vietnam are boosting defense ties to counter China in the South China sea territorial dispute.

China has maintained an aggressive stance on its…


South Sudan: Report: China Funding S Sudan Govt Militia to Protect Oil Fields

Jan 29, 2015 | Radio Tamazuj

China's state oil company is financing a South Sudanese government militia to protect the Unity oil field, a conflict monitoring-group has discovered.

According to a new…


Sierra Leone: Miners Brace for “Catastrophe"

Jan 29, 2015 | Silas Gbandia, Equal Times

Sierra Leone could lose more than 7,000 mining jobs following a decision by the country’s largest employer to temporarily retrench workers.

Although workers at African Minerals…


Liberia: Land Commission Seeks New Option for Land Disputes

Jan 29, 2015 | Emmanuel Weedee-Conway, Heritage

The Land Commission (LC) has adopted new measures to fast strike the settlement of land disputes outside of court proceedings with the establishment of Land…


Nigeria: Nigerian Farmers Face Destitution from 300 sq. km Land Grab Backed by UK Aid

Jan 28, 2015 | Oliver Tickell, Ecologist

Development secretary Justine Greening is facing questions over UK involvement in a massive land-grab in Nigeria that is evicting local farmers from 300 square kilometres…


Iraq: Oil Revenues, Economic Growth and Decreased Violence had Little Impact on Iraq's Poor

Jan 28, 2015 | World Bank

In 2012, one-fifth of Iraq’s population lived below the poverty line, and a significant share of the Iraqi people was vulnerable to falling into poverty,…


Afghanistan/India/Pakistan: Focus on Afghanistan, Not Kashmir, India and Pakistan Urged

Jan 28, 2015 | Vikas Datta, New Kerala

Afghanistan, not Kashmir, can be the issue for India and Pakistan to resume a sustainable dialogue, where it will be relatively easier for them to…


Iraq: Shell Signs $11 Billion Deal to Build Petrochemicals Plant in Iraq

Jan 28, 2015 | Saif Hameed, Reuters

Royal DutchShell (RDSa.L) signed a deal with Iraq on Wednesday worth $11 billion to build a petrochemicals plant in the southern oil hub of Basra,…


Myanmar: Sino-Myanmar Crude Oil Pipeline Enters Trial Operation

Jan 28, 2015 | Xinhuanet

China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline ( Myanmar section) was put into trial operation Wednesday after the project was announced basically completed through five years' efforts by…


Iraq: Iraq Lowers Oil Price Forecast in Budget Proposal to $55 a Barrel

Jan 27, 2015 | Reuters

Falling oil prices forced Iraq's cabinet on Tuesday to revise its draft 2105 budget, trimming its forecast for oil to $55 a barrel from $60.

It…


Liberia: A US Green-Energy Blueprint, Meant to Help Liberia, Fails

Jan 27, 2015 | Ronnie Greene and Jonathan Paye-Layleh, Associated Press

On paper, the pitch was simple: A green energy company backed by $217 million in U.S. government loans would convert one of Africa's poorest countries…


Pakistan: Climate Stresses Push Kashmir's Poor Into Militancy, Pakistan Experts Warn

Jan 27, 2015 | Roshan Din Shad, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Financial hardship after a failed apple crop forced Aqeel Ahmed to give up his studies aged 20 and join a militant group fighting Indian rule…


South Sudan: South Sudan Finds Hope in Honey

Jan 26, 2015 | Barbara Lewis, Reuters

A harvest of honey from the equatorial forests of South Sudan will help its struggling poor and, through the pollination of bees, improve the nation's…


Liberia: JFK Sitting On 'Time Bomb' - EPA Alarms

Jan 26, 2015 | Emmanuel Weedee-Conway, Heritage

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has alarmed that the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Medical Center is sitting on a 'time bomb' and could be wiped…


Food Security: ‘Vicious Circles Linking Violence and Hunger’ Must End – UN Agriculture Chief

Jan 26, 2015 | United Nations FAO

Agriculture and food security must be treated as essential components of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization…


Iraq: Oil Could Solve the Iraqi-Egyptian Debt Dispute

Jan 26, 2015 | Zachary Toliver, Marcellus.com

Earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made a visit to Egypt which ended in a series of new agreements between the two nations,…


Cote d’Ivoire/Liberia: West African Oil Reserves Revised Upward

Jan 26, 2015 | Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International

Junior explorer African Petroleum Corp. said Monday it revised its reserve estimate for operations off the western African coast upward by more than 50 percent.

African…


Myanmar: Timber Talks: Burma and China Discuss Logging

Jan 25, 2015 | Echo Hui, Democratic Voice of Burma

At a conference held in Naypyidaw last week, senior Burmese and Chinese government officials agreed to establish a bilateral system to recognise “legal” timber in…


Pakistan: Rebels Tied to Blackout Across Most of Pakistan

Jan 25, 2015 | Salman Masood, New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Towns and cities across Pakistan plunged into darkness early Sunday when what officials said was an attack by militants on a transmission…


South Sudan: S. Sudan Rebels Deny Destroying Oil Facilities

Jan 24, 2015 | Sudan Tribune

South Sudan’s armed opposition office in Uganda has dismissed as “rubbish” allegations by Juba that rebel forces set fire to oil facilities in Unity state…


Somaliland: Current Administration Is Deliberately Encouraging Land Grabbing

Jan 24, 2015 | Somaliland Press

The justice and welfare party (UCID) Presidential hopeful Hon Jamal Ali Hussein has warned the ruling elite "KULMIYE" not to enrich themselves at the expense…


China/Malaysia/Vietnam/South China Sea: Oil On Troubled Waters

Jan 24, 2015 | Economist

Two Chinese oil companies show contrasting approaches in their attempts to operate in the South China Sea where, to the discomfort of its smaller neighbours,…


Liberia: 'Concessions Never Address Land Issues'

Jan 23, 2015 | Alloycious David, The NEWS

Maryland County Senator J. Gbleh-Bo Brown has disclosed that the 50 years concession agreements between the Liberian Government and Cavalla Rubber Corporation and the Maryland…


Iraq: Falling Oil Prices May Hurt Fight Against IS: Iraq

Jan 23, 2015 | Business Spectator

Falling global energy prices are imperiling the Iraqi government's efforts to fight Islamic State militants, drawing fresh appeals from Baghdad for financial assistance. 

Iraqi Prime Minister…


China/Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Joins Philippines in War of Words Against China Island Building

Jan 23, 2015 | An Dien, Thanh Nien News

Vietnam has joined the Philippines in condemning China’s attempts to build islands in the East Sea in what analysts say could be yet another futile…


Myanmar: Jade Mining to Continue Despite Conflict, Ministry Says

Jan 23, 2015 | Kyaw Hsu Mon, The Irrawaddy

RANGOON — Jade mining operations in northern Burma’s Kachin State will not be officially halted due to ongoing conflict in the area, according to a…


Iraq: Citing Plunge in Oil Prices, Iraq Seeks Arms on Credit to Fight ISIS

Jan 22, 2015 | Michael R. Gordon, New York Times

LONDON — Battered by a sharp decline in oil prices, Iraq is asking Western allies to provide weapons on credit for its fight against the…


Food Security: Where Food Crises and Global Conflict Could Collide

Jan 22, 2015 | Carolyn Heneghan, Food Dive

World War III is unimaginable for many, but some experts believe that not only is this degree of global conflict imminent, but it may be…


Sierra Leone: RESOLVE Announces the ReGrow West Africa Partnership and Peace Diamonds with First $1 Million Donor Pledge

Jan 22, 2015 | Globe News Wire

Today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Stephen D'Esposito, President and CEO of RESOLVE, and Chair of the World Economic Forum Council…