International


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…


Liberia: GVL Excepts to INHCR Report

Sep 2, 2015 | The New Dawn

The Indonesian oil palm company, Golden Veroleum Liberia, has taken exception to the recent report by the Independent National Commission on Human Rights on the…


Israel/Palestine: Gaza Could Soon Become Uninhabitable, UN Report Predicts

Sep 2, 2015 | Peter Beaumont, Guardian

A hard-hitting new United Nations report says Gaza could become uninhabitable in less than five years if current economic and population trends continue. It cites…


Syria: Syria's Ailing Water Network Could Spark Epidemics: Red Cross

Sep 2, 2015 | Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters

Syria's water network, heavily damaged by bombs and shelling, is at risk of collapse as its civil war drags on, increasing the threat of deadly…


Liberia: Liberian Lawmaker Wants Audits - Falls Short in Equity

Sep 1, 2015 | Henry Karmo, FrontPageAfrica

Representative Bhofal Chambers (CDC-District #2 Maryland County) has written the House of Representatives requesting the august body to ensure the audit of several Ministries and…


India: Marathwada Towns Come to Blows over Dam Water

Sep 1, 2015 | Syed Rizwanullah, Thain News Network

Water wars are breaking out on the Osmanabad-Beed border, and officials have even come to blows over their share of water in Manjra dam -…


South China Sea: India Ready to Move Oil Platform into South China Sea

Sep 1, 2015 | Want China Times

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is ready to move an oil platform into the South China Sea to help the Vietnamese government explore for…


Sierra Leone: Spain to Hand over US-Belgian Businessman Wanted in Sierra Leone Blood Diamonds Case

Aug 31, 2015 | Ciaran Giles, Associated Press

An American-Belgian businessman arrested for suspected involvement in enslavement and pillaging blood diamonds during Sierra Leone's civil war will be handed over shortly to Belgium,…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Controversy Continues over How to Cut up Kirkuk

Aug 31, 2015 | Saad Salloum, Al-Monitor

While the Kurds think of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk as the “Jerusalem of Kurdistan,” since the adoption of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution, the Turkmens have been calling for…