International
China/South China Sea: Kerry Meets with China's Foreign Minister over Disputed Islands
May 16, 2015
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Scott Neuman, NPR
China's foreign minister today reasserted Beijing's claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea, dismissing a push by his counterpart, Secretary of State John…
DRC: 'Conflict Minerals' Funding Deadly Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo as EU Plans Laws to Clean Up Trade
May 16, 2015
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Sarah Morrison, The Independent
The European Parliament is set to vote on its first conflict minerals regulation aimed at cleaning up the trade this coming week. The European Union…
Syria: US Says Army Commandos on Overnight Raid into Syria Kill Islamic State's Oil Operations Head
May 16, 2015
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Robert Burns and Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press
In a rare ground attack deep into Syria, U.S. Army commandos killed a man described as the Islamic State's head of oil operations, captured his…
Cyprus/Turkey: Cyprus Peace Talks 'Positive and Productive'
May 16, 2015
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Deutsche Welle
Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Mustafa Akinci, met in Nicosia in search of a breakthrough to the…
Liberia: Moratorium on Logging Activities is Undermining Liberia’s Economy says Senate Pro-Tempore
May 15, 2015
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Cholo Brooks, Global News Network
The President Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate Armah Zolu Jallah says Liberia needs to identify its priorities in terms of adopting policies that will benefit…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq’s Oil Minister Leaves Erbil with No Progress in Oil & Budget Talks
May 15, 2015
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Rudaw
Iraq’s Oil Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi returned to Baghdad Friday evening after two days of talks with Kurdish officials over oil and budget disputes with…
Iraq: The Islamic State Threatens to Capture Massive Iraqi Oil Refinery
May 15, 2015
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Hugh Naylor, Washington Post
Six months after the government triumphantly announced that Islamic State militants had retreated from Iraq’s largest refinery, the extremist group is again threatening to overrun…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Images Reveal Vietnam's Expansion in the South China Sea
May 15, 2015
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Gabriel Domínguez, Deutsche Welle
Surveillance imagery recently obtained by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) shows that in recent years Vietnam has undertaken significant construction in the…
Iraq: 9th Circuit Court Overturns $85M Award for Oregon Soldiers
May 14, 2015
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Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday threw out a landmark verdict that a dozen Oregon Army National Guardsmen won against a defense contractor…
DRC: India Eyes Mineral Exploration, Procurement Deals from Congo
May 14, 2015
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Business Standard
India has expressed keen interest in having a "mutually beneficial" relationship with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in exploration as well as procurement of various…
Iraq: 12 Years Later, a Mystery of Chemical Exposure in Iraq Clears Slightly
May 14, 2015
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C.J. Chivers, New York Times
The toxic vapors acted quickly against the Second Platoon of the 811th Ordnance Company, whose soldiers were moving abandoned barrels out of an Iraqi Republican…
DRC: Conflict Minerals Rule: A View of Ongoing Compliance
May 14, 2015
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Deloitte, Wall Street Journal
As the SEC’s Conflict Minerals Rule approaches its second filing deadline in June, many registrants continue to face the challenge of gaining adequate visibility into…
South Sudan: UN Ramps Up Airlifts to Reach Conflict-Hit Farmers Ahead of Planting Season
May 14, 2015
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United Nations
As the main planting season begins in South Sudan, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced today that it is accelerating its efforts…
Iraq: Iraqi Refinery May Be Destroyed in Battle to Save it
May 13, 2015
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Reuters
Islamic State militants have dug trenches around natural gas and hydrogen tanks at Iraq's largest refinery, raising the stakes in a battle where the price…
Iraq: Baghdad-Erbil Relations Grow Sour
May 13, 2015
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Anadolu Agency
Relations between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government in Erbil are growing sour as Erbil awaits full payment for oil, according to…
Iraq: How Important is the Battle for Iraq's Baiji Oil Refinery?
May 12, 2015
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Jill S Russell, BBC
The struggle between Iraqi government forces and Shia militia against Islamic State (IS) for control of the country's largest oil refinery, Baiji, is at yet…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: 1 Year Later: Reflections on China's Oil Rig 'Sovereignty-Making' in the South China Sea
May 12, 2015
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Ankit Panda, The Diplomat
One year ago, China’s state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) moved an exploratory oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HD-981), worth an estimated $1 billion,…
DRC: Child Labour Won't Stop with Conflict-Free Labels and Voluntary Codes
May 12, 2015
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Josephine Moulds, The Guardian
A fight is brewing in Europe over new rules for companies to report on so-called “conflict minerals”, which are commonly found in mobile phones, laptops,…
Liberia: Liberia's Remaining Forest Threatened, If...
May 12, 2015
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Wellington G. Patrick, Liberia News Agency
The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ms Anyaa Vohiri, predicts that though Liberia holds a large chunk of sub-Saharan forest, it remains…
Timor-Leste: Drop in Oil Production Reduces Timor-Leste’s Revenue
May 11, 2015
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Macauhub
A drop in oil and natural gas production has been the main factor behind a reduction of oil revenues to Timor-Leste (East Timor), which account…
Islamic State: How IS Uses Water as a Weapon of War
May 11, 2015
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Walaa Hussein, Al-Monitor
The Middle East is facing a water crisis. As the region experiences conflicts over water and faces the continuous risk of war breaking out, experts on water predict that the Islamic…
Sudan: Contract for Khartoum Oil Pipeline Signed
May 11, 2015
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Radio Dabanga
The first Sudanese contract to build pipelines for petroleum between Khartoum and Wad Madani, the capital of El Gezira state, was signed on Sunday. The…
Bangladesh/India: Enclaves in Bangladesh: Reports of Scuffles over Land Grabbing
May 10, 2015
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The Indian Express
Days after Parliament ratified the land swap agreement with Bangladesh, there are reports of “law and order” problem over the alleged land grabbing in the…
DRC: Dodd-Frank’s Misadventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo
May 10, 2015
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Tom Burgis, Politico
Looking out on the banana plants and cassava shrubs of Central Africa, it was odd to imagine the tentacles of a bank reform bill in…
Iraq: Economist: Ex-PM Maliki Lost Iraq $500bn in Oil
May 9, 2015
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Rudaw
Economist Adnan Janabi, the former head of the Iraqi parliament's oil and gas committee, has criticized Baghdad's oil policies and laid the blame on ex-prime…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Row Boils Over as Baghdad ‘Refuses’ KRG’s Full Share
May 8, 2015
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Rudaw
Iraq’s central government has refused to send the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s share of oil revenue for the month of April which were previously agreed…
Timor-Leste: ICJ Confirms Aust to Return Timor Docs
May 7, 2015
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Julian Drape, AAP
The United Nation's top court has confirmed it's authorised Australia to return documents seized from a lawyer representing East Timor in a dispute over a…
Nigeria: Bill to End Fulani, Farmers’ Conflict Scales Second Reading
May 7, 2015
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Sylvester Ugwuanyi, Daily Post
A bill seeking to bring an end to the conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers which had resulted into loss of lives and property across…
DRC: Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Next Emerging Economy?
May 7, 2015
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Djenabou Cisse, Global Risk Insights
With positive macroeconomic indicators, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is aspiring to be an emerging country by 2030. To achieve this goal, the country…
Sudan: Sudan Warns Against Illegal Mining Activities in Neighbouring Countries
May 6, 2015
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Sudan Tribune
Sudan has warned its nationals against illegal expansion of traditional mining activities outside Sudanese territories and described the phenomenon as a “time bomb” that would…