International

Myanmar: Lower Supplies Affect Annual Gems Sales in Myanmar

Jun 26, 2014 | May Wong, Channel NewsAsia

NAY PYI TAW: At Myanmar's only annual gems fair in Nay Pyi Taw, sales are expected to hit US$1.5 billion this year, down from US$2.4…

Redrawn Lines Seen as No Cure in Iraq Conflict

Jun 26, 2014 | Robert F. Worth - The New York Times

ISTANBUL — Over the past two weeks, the specter that has haunted Iraq since its founding 93 years ago appears to have become a reality:…

Belgium: Belgians Share Their Land With War’s Reminders

Jun 26, 2014 | The New York Times

YPRES, Belgium — The padlocked cage beside the driveway on the Butaye family farm near this town in western Belgium is almost full of rusting…

Liberia: Liberia's Poor and the Rising Sea

Jun 25, 2014 | Wade C. L. Williams, AllAfrica

Monrovia — Mary B owned a shop in West Point, Monrovia's densely-populated slum community, where she sold liquor just few yards away from the sea.…

Conflict Minerals: Does Furniture Contain Conflict Minerals?

Jun 25, 2014 | Thomas Russell, Furniture Today

HIGH POINT — Publicly held furniture companies acknowledge they have taken steps to determine whether various metals used in their finished product come from mines…

Communities Protest That UK's Equatorial Palm Oil Are Poised to Seize Land in Liberia

Jun 24, 2014 | Global Witness

The UK-listed company, Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO), which is threatening to seize land owned by Liberians in defiance of commitments by Liberia’s President, will today…

Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Timber Products Finances Criminal and Militia Groups, Threatening Security and Sustainable Development

Jun 24, 2014 | UNEP

Global environmental crime, worth up to US$213 billion each year, is helping finance criminal, militia and terrorist groups and threatening the security and sustainable development…

Liberia: Citizens Want Border Dispute Investigated

Jun 24, 2014 | Edwin G. Wandah, AllAfrica

Several citizens hailing from Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties have expressed deep regrets over the delay of the Government of Liberia to probe the…

Myanmar: Extinction Looms as Notorious Rosewood Loggers Set Sights on Burma Species, Group Warns

Jun 24, 2014 | Paul Vrieze, The Irrawaddy

RANGOON — Burmese tree species tamalan and padauk are disappearing at an extremely rapid pace as Chinese traders have begun targeting their high-value wood, and…

Myanmar: Energy Rush: Myanmar's Reforms Fuel Hopes of Burmese Boom

Jun 24, 2014 | Keith Johnson, Foreign Policy

Energy executives around the globe rubbed their hands anticipating a new gold rush in Myanmar when that formerly isolated country began opening up in 2011.…

Water Scarcity May Spark Geopolitical Conflicts: Council

Jun 23, 2014 | Bloomberg News

Water scarcity may spark geopolitical conflicts in such countries as those around the Tigris-Euphrates and Nile river basins, according to the World Water Council’s president.

“Water…

Global: Treaty Is Making Land Mines Weapon of Past, Group Says

Jun 23, 2014 | Rick Gladstone, The New York Times

Despite the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, the armed uprising in Ukraine and turmoil in other hot spots in the Middle East and Africa,…

Eastern DRC: Stop Fixating on Conflict Minerals

Jun 23, 2014 | Christoph Vogel, Think Africa Press

Goma/Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo: In October 2013, after a year-and-a-half-long rebellion in which its forces managed to take control of several major cities and…

Iraq: Iraq Upheaval Threatens Oil Development Plans

Jun 23, 2014 | Sinan Salaheddin, Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The turmoil in Iraq has thrown the OPEC member's ambitious plans to boost oil production into doubt, threatening to crimp its most…

Myanmar: Land-Grab Documentary Takes Top Burma Prize at Human Rights Film Festival

Jun 20, 2014 | Nyein Nyein, The Irrawaddy

RANGOON — A 30-minute documentary about land confiscation in Burma won two out of eight awards at the Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival…

Kurdistan/Iraq: First Cargo of Disputed Kurdish Iraqi Oil Delivered to Israel

Jun 20, 2014 | DEBKAfile

The Liberia-flagged SCF Altai tanker docked at Ashkelon port early Friday and began unloading crude, according to a port source. This may be the first…

Liberia: Stakeholders Make Recommendations on Land Governance

Jun 20, 2014 | Jimmey C. Fahngon, AllAfrica

Stakeholders at the voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests seminar have made several recommendations geared towards the improvement of…

Timor-Leste: East Timor Plans First Onshore Bid Round

Jun 20, 2014 | Rick Wilkinson, Oil & Gas Journal

The Democratic Republic of Timor Lesté (East Timor) is planning its first bid round for onshore acreage toward the end of this year.

The country’s Minister…

Kenya/South Sudan/Uganda/Ethiopia: Kenya Attacks Undermine Plans for East African Trade Hub

Jun 20, 2014 | Drazen Jorgic, Retuers

LAMU, Kenya, June 20 (Reuters) - The latest in a string of militant attacks on Kenya's coast has dealt a fresh blow to the economy,…

Liberia: Bursting the Bubble of Natural Resource Expectations

Jun 19, 2014 | Luke Balleny, Thomson Reuters Foundation

After oil was found off Ghana’s southwest coast in 2007, John Atta Mills, former president of Ghana is said to have proclaimed, “We will use…

Iraq: China to Relocate Some Workers in Oil Supplier Iraq

Jun 19, 2014 | Global Post

China is to relocate some workers in Iraq -- where it is the biggest foreign investor in the oil industry -- in the face of…

China/Vietnam: In Push to Assert Rights, China Plans to Send 2nd Oil Rig to Waters Near Vietnam

Jun 19, 2014 | Jane Perlez, The New York Times

HANOI, Vietnam — The day after tough talks between Vietnam and China that made no progress over a Chinese oil rig in the South China…

Iraq: Iraqi Officials Claim Control of Major Refinery in Baiji

Jun 19, 2014 | Alissa J. Rubin and Suadad Al-Salhy, The New York Times

BAGHDAD — Iraqi government officials claimed on Thursday that Sunni militants had retreated from a major refinery in Baiji after intense fighting for more than…

South China Sea: Analysts Say China May Try to Use Manmade Islands to Bolster Bid for Economic Development

Jun 19, 2014 | Edward Wong,, The New York Times

China has been moving sand onto some reefs and rocks in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea to create islands that can support…

Conflict Minerals: Sexual Violence and Conflict Minerals: International Demand Fuels Cycle

Jun 18, 2014 | Zainab Hawa Bangura, The Guardian

Gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin: these are raw materials that you may never think about, but they are the link between our most common electronic…

Myanmar: Farmers hold massive march in Mandalay over land grab

Jun 18, 2014 | Democratic Voice of Burma

Around 1,500 farmers from Mandalay Division’s Pyin Oo Lwin participated in a march on Monday to demand the return of 300,000 acres of farmland allegedly…

Myanmar: Myanmar Gas Exports Seen Rising on Ramping Up of New China Pipeline

Jun 18, 2014 | Aung Hla Tun, Reuters

(Reuters) - Myanmar's earnings from natural gas exports fell in the last fiscal year as more of the resource was consumed domestically but shipments of…

China/Vietnam: For Vietnam and China, No Easing of Tensions

Jun 18, 2014 | Jane Perlez, The New York Times

HONG KONG — China and Vietnam exchanged sharp views Wednesday in their dispute over a Chinese oil rig deployed in contested waters in the South…

Sudan: Rebuilding Governance for Natural Resources is Vital for Resilient Livelihoods and Long-term Peace, Says New UNEP Report

Jun 17, 2014 | UNEP

17 June 2014, Khartoum, Sudan – UNEP releases third report in an environmental governance series that looks at supporting peacebuilding relating to natural resources in…

Kyrgyzstan: Conflicts in Kyrgyzstan Foreshadow Water Wars to Come

Jun 17, 2014 | Fyodor Savintsev, Creative Time Reports

Water scarcity is an omnipresent plight in the developing world. Today 780 million people lack access to drinking water. By 2030 nearly half the world’s…