International


Myanmar: Kantbalu Farmers Protest Against Land-Grabs

Aug 14, 2014 | Eleven

About 1,000 farmers in Kantbalu Township, Shwebo District of Sagaing Region on August 13 staged a protest to ask for the return of confiscated lands…


South China Sea: China-US Tensions Heat Up Over Disputed Sea

Aug 14, 2014 | Voice of America

Chinese state media accuse the United States of inflaming tensions in the South China Sea as Secretary of State John Kerry wraps up his trip…


Iraq/Kurdistan: International Oil Producers Halt Northern Iraq Operations

Aug 14, 2014 | Turkish Weekly

In a story on the suspension of oil production by a number of international companies operating in Iraq's north, the Anadolu Agency erroneously reported that…


India: There Will be Water Wars Soon: HC on Depleting Water Level in Delhi

Aug 14, 2014 | The Economic Times

The Delhi High Court today said there would be "water wars" soon given the rate water sources is depleting and asked the city government whether…


Liberia: Sime Darby Slows Liberia Operations Due to Ebola Virus

Aug 14, 2014 | Bloomberg

Sime Darby Bhd (SIME), the world’s biggest listed palm oil producer, said it’s slowing production in Liberia because of the Ebola virus.

The Kuala Lumpur-based company,…


Liberia: Sifca Says Exports of Rubber From Liberia Halted on Ebola

Aug 14, 2014 | Bloomberg

Sifca Group, an Ivory Coast agribusiness company, said its exports of rubber from Liberia have been halted as a result of the closing of land…


Iraq: Iraq Crisis: West’s ‘Mandate’ Limited by National Borders – and Don’t Dare Mention Oil

Aug 14, 2014 | The Independent

In the Middle East, the first shots of every war define the narrative we all dutifully follow. So too, this greatest crisis since the last…


Global: Global Conflicts Cause concern in Markets, Commodities

Aug 14, 2014 | Nwi Times

Headlines across the world have been filled with news of violence and intensifying conflicts in the Gaza strip, the Ukraine and Russia, and Iraq.

The largely…


Liberia: Liberia Offers New Acreage Despite No Update on Oil Legislation

Aug 14, 2014 | Platts

Liberia has offered four exploration blocks for licensing despite previous assurances that they would first put in place petroleum legislation.

State-owned NOCAL on its website said…


Liberia: Liberia's National Oil Company Denies Selling Oil Blocks

Aug 14, 2014 | All Africa

The National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) says oil blocks that are now out for international competitive bidding, are neither being sold nor auctioned contrary…


Conflict Minerals: How Monitoring Smelters is Key to Curbing Conflict Minerals

Aug 14, 2014 | Web Africa

Technology hardware, software and services provider HP says it is keeping a close watch on smelters and refiners in a bid to reach the company’s…


DRC: Eastern Congo Slowly Producing More Conflict-Free Minerals Report

Aug 14, 2014 | Thomas Reuters Foundation

The number of mines certified as producing “conflict-free” minerals in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is slowly increasing, though challenges remain in cutting off this…


Bangladesh: Land Grabbing Drives Lawlessness and Deaths in Bangladesh

Aug 14, 2014 | UCA News

In separate incidents last week, a tribal Santal man was murdered, and an Oraon woman was gang raped by Muslim men in northern Bangladesh. A…


Nigeria: Awka Youths, Elders Square Up Against Anambra Government Over Land Grabbing

Aug 14, 2014 | Daily Post

Youths and elders of Ezinano community in Awka, Anambra State have drawn a battle line with state government over what they termed “unlawful acquisition of…


Myanmar: Corrupt “Land Grabs” Imperil Democracy in Burma

Aug 14, 2014 | Thomas Reuters Foundation

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to own property [and] no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of…


Iraq: Militants Hold Seven Iraq Oil Fields After Syria Blitz, IEA Says

Aug 14, 2014 | Bloomberg

Islamic State fighters have captured seven oil fields in Iraq with a total output capacity of 80,000 barrels a day, adding to energy deposits they…


Myanmar: Kanbalu Farmers Demand Release of 57 Jailed ‘Plough Protestors’

Aug 14, 2014 | DVB

Some 1,500 farmers rallied for the release of 57 jailed land rights activists in central Burma’s Sagaing Division on Wednesday.

The demonstrators, who received permission from…


Myanmar: Drug Control Efforts Go Local in Myanmar’s Kachin State

Aug 14, 2014 | IRIN

Myanmar's northern Kachin State, renowned for its heroin production, is changing tack in its efforts to curb rampant drug use and cultivation: In addition to…


Kurdistan: Turkey Has Called on US to Lift Kurdish Oil Ban

Aug 14, 2014 | Financial Times

LONDON - Turkey has called on the US to lift obstacles to the sale of oil by Iraq’s cash-strapped Kurds to help in their war…


South China Sea: China Defends Position on Sea Dispute

Aug 13, 2014 | DVB

Speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Summit in Naypyidaw on Saturday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the country is willing to…


South China Sea: At ARF, India Backs International Arbitration, Freedom of Navigation

Aug 13, 2014 | The Diplomat

As The Diplomat reported earlier on Monday, this year’s ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was one of the more productive multilateral meetings in the Asia-Pacific region in recent memory.…


South China Sea: U.S. to Monitor South China Sea for De-escalation After China Rebuff

Aug 13, 2014 | Reuters

The United States will monitor the South China Sea to see whether "de-escalatory steps" are being taken, a U.S. State Department official said on Monday,…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil and Erbil

Aug 13, 2014 | New Yorker

To the defense of Erbil: this was the main cause that drew President Obama back to combat in Iraq last week, two and a half…


Myanmar: Myanmar Can Renegotiate Hydro Deal to Keep More Power, says Chinese Firm

Aug 13, 2014 | Reuters

A Chinese firm that signed deals with Myanmar's former military rulers to build hydro dams said it could renegotiate the terms, which would see some…


Myanmar: US to Waive Timber Sanctions for One Year

Aug 13, 2014 | Myanmar Times

The United States Treasury Department granted a special one year licence beginning in late July for certain US companies to trade with Myanma Timber Enterprise…


Can Women Make the World More Peaceful?

Aug 11, 2014 | Laurel Stone

Do women hold the key to a peaceful society? Much is known about the victimisation of women through rape, trafficking, and early marriages, but much…


China/South China Sea: A View From the Sea, as China Flexes Muscle

Aug 9, 2014 | Austin Ramzy, The New York Times

ABOARD CSB-8003, in the South China Sea — As the large white Chinese ship closed in, the smaller Vietnamese Coast Guard vessel could only veer…


Kenya: Youths Block Thika Superhighway to Protest Land Grabbing

Aug 9, 2014 | Albert Nyakundi, The Star

Tension is high on the Thika superhighway after several youth groups and community based organizations protested against a private developer who is fencing of public…


Conflict Minerals: How to Make the Most of Africa’s Business Boom

Aug 9, 2014 | Sara Murphy, The Motley Fool

Following the close of this week's unprecedented U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the business community's eyes are trained on Africa. Perhaps not since colonization has the West…


South China Sea: China to Build Lighthouses on Five Disputed Islands

Aug 8, 2014 | Today

BEIJING — China is planning to build lighthouses on five islands in the South China Sea, the official China News Agency reported yesterday, in what…