International


Ethiopia: World Bank Dam and Foreign Land-grab Force out Ethiopian tribes

Feb 23, 2015 | Karen Hardison, Digital Journal

World Bank and China join Ethipoia's government to relocate 200,000 villagers of the Omo River and Lake Turkana Valley, UNESCO protected "Cradle of Mankind," to…


Money vs. Morals: A Look at Talisman's Legacy in Sudan

Feb 22, 2015 | Kyle Balx, CBC News

According to a high-level report by Canadian diplomat John Harker in February 2000, oil royalties flowing to the Sudanese government from a Talisman Energy-run oil play were found to be exacerbating the…


DRC: Dealers Fleece Diggers for a Share of DRC's Illegal Gold

Feb 20, 2015 | African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting

Western companies mining gold industrially in DRC have diggers on their land, but fear that if they work them the companies will be accused by…


Liberia: 'GVL Must Vacate Our Land'

Feb 20, 2015 | Alloycious David, All Africa Global Media

Aggrieved citizens of Butaw District in Sinoe County are calling on the management of Golden Veroleum Liberia to pay compensation for villages, crops and ancestral…


China: How China is Transforming the South China Sea

Feb 20, 2015 | Gabriel Dominguez, DW

New images reveal the extent of China's land reclamation and construction in the South China Sea. Experts warn the new developments will make it increasingly…


Myanmar: Canadian Mining Firm May Have Breached Sanctions, Rights Group Says

Feb 20, 2015 | Seamus Martov, The Irrawaddy

For many years, Canada’s since-rebranded Ivanhoe Mines was one of the very few Western mining companies involved in Burma through its stake in one of…


Libya: Libyan oil flows resume from largest field

Feb 20, 2015 | Staff Writer, Al Arabiya News

Libya has resumed pumping crude from the southeastern Sarir field to the Hariga port, a spokesman for the state oil operator AGOCO said on Monday.…


Iraq: Falling Oil Prices Reveal Iraq’s Structural Problem

Feb 19, 2015 | Etienne Lepers - International Policy Digest

Despite all the attention to falling oil prices over the last six months, the impact on the world economy has not and will not be…


China/South China Sea: Fishing Wars: China’s Aggression Could Stoke Future Conflict

Feb 19, 2015 | Johan Bergenas and Ariella Knight, World Politics Review

The Vikings conquered the high seas to plunder and pillage. The British established their empire by dominating the oceans. And in the past 40 years,…


Timor-Leste: Greater Sunrise Is Crucial For Timor Sea Development

Feb 19, 2015 | Lauren Barrett, Hart Energy

Hydrocarbon discoveries in the Timor Sea are plentiful, but there is much conjecture as to whether brownfield or greenfield development is the best way to…


DRC: 'Conflict Minerals' Law Reaps Unforeseen Results

Feb 19, 2015 | Ciaran McEvoy, Investor's Business Daily

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then critics of an obscure provision in the Dodd-Frank Act believe there is a highway…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Mysterious Uranium is No Panacea

Feb 19, 2015 | Chan Mya Htwe and Phyo Lwin Aung, The Trade Times

A claim of a uranium find in Mandalay Division has sparked debate over whether the country should pursue nuclear power. The billionaire tycoon Tay Za…


Bangladesh: Iftekharuzzaman: State Patronising Festival of Land Grabbing in CHT

Feb 17, 2015 | Abid Azad, Dhaka Tribune

The state has been patronising a grand festival of land grabbing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, said International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC) member Dr…


South Sudan: S. Sudan Halts Parliamentary Activities over Lack of Funds

Feb 17, 2015 | Sudan Vision

JUBA – South Sudan’s parliamentary speaker has admitted that almost all parliamentary activities have been halted due to a lack of funds.
In an exclusive interview…


Iraq: Baghdad-Erbil Accord Over Oil Sales Breaking Down

Feb 17, 2015 | World Bulletin

The Dec. 5 oil-revenue sharing agreement between the Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG, and the Iraqi central government is unwinding, observers and experts said on…


Sierra Leone: Land Owning Families in Eastern Sierra Leone Sue Chinese Company and Paramount Chief to Recover Land

Feb 17, 2015 | Sonkita Conteh, The Sierra Express

Land owning families in Nimiyama Chiefdom, Kono District, Eastern Sierra Leone have commenced legal action in the country’s High Court against Orient Agricultural Ltd –…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's KRG PM Threatens to Withhold Oil Exports Without Budget Share

Feb 16, 2015 | Reuters

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government may withhold crude oil exports if Baghdad does not send its share of the budget, Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani…


Timor-Leste: Call for New Approach to Timor Sea Negotiations

Feb 16, 2015 | Darren Mara, SBS

A new government has been sworn in in East Timor after the resignation of Xanana Gusmao from the post of Prime Minister.

Rui Araujo will now…


Myanmar: Jade Trade Bedevils Burma’s Transparency Aspirations

Feb 16, 2015 | Seamus Martov, The Irrawaddy

While Burma pushes ahead with plans to become a full-fledged member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global standard promoting openness in the…


Conflict Diamonds: HSBC and Shimon Yelinek: Arms, Drugs, Diamonds and Terrorism

Feb 16, 2015 | Aliaume Leroy, McGill International Review

Shimon Yelinek is an Israeli businessman based in Panama. Behind this facade however, he is one of the most notorious criminals you may find among…


Iraq: Iraq Has Lost Billions from Gas Flaring

Feb 15, 2015 | Saadallah Al Fathi, gulfnews.com

In June 2012, the IEA estimated that the implied value of the gas flared in southern Iraq to 2020 would be $70 to $100 billion…


Liberia: Taylor-Era Wartime Timber Company Penalized, Accused of PUP Breach

Feb 15, 2015 | Front Page Africa

The Danish timber giant Dalhoff Larsen and Horneman (DLH), a company accused of buying conflict timber during Liberia’s civil war, has been stripped of its…


Myanmar: EITI Board Members Rap Govt over Mine Death

Feb 13, 2015 | Thomas Kean, Myanmar Times

Civil society members of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s International Board have slammed the government over the death of a protester at the Letpadaung copper…


Timor-Leste: As Xanana Gusmao Departs, Timor Must Prepare for When the Oil Runs Dry

Feb 13, 2015 | Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald

In the annals of East Timor's extraordinary emergence as a nation state after 500 years of foreign domination, no figure has loomed as large as…


Liberia: NOCAL ‘Lawyer’ Whistleblower in 25K Oil Saga Dead

Feb 13, 2015 | Mae Azango and Al Varney Rogers, Front Page Africa

Monrovia - Cllr. Michael Allison, the former consultant to the National Oil Company of Liberia who reportedly blew the whistle that had led to an…


Iraq: Iraq's Oil Exports Dip by 14 Percent in January

Feb 12, 2015 | Sinan Salaheddin, Associated Press

Iraq's Oil Ministry said on Thursday that crude exports averaged 2.535 million barrels a day in January, a decrease of nearly 14 percent from the…


South Sudan: Conflict a Cause of Hunger in South Sudan

Feb 12, 2015 | Norwegian Refugee Council

“The critical food situation is worsening for the 2.5 million people at risk in South Sudan. There is an urgent need for a solution on…


Liberia: Danish Timber Giant Kicked Out of Forest Stewardship Council Certification Scheme for Trading Illegal Timber

Feb 12, 2015 | Global Witness

Danish timber giant Dalhoff Larsen and Horneman (DLH) has been expelled from the world’s leading timber certifier, the Forest Stewardship Council, following evidence presented by…


Afghanistan: Watchdog: DOD Ignored Troop Health Risks, Continued to Burn Trash in Afghanistan

Feb 12, 2015 | Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes

The U.S. military knowingly put troops’ health at risk and wasted tens of millions of dollars on shoddy contracts while operating dangerous open-air burn pits…


Conflict Minerals: Apple Takes Initiative in Verifying Smelters for Approaching Conflict Minerals Reporting Deadline

Feb 11, 2015 | 3BL Media

The world's second largest technology company, Apple, has acknowledged that the best way to ensure a conflict free supply chain is by having a process…