International


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…


Uganda: Uganda's Mineral Exports Dry Up Over 'Conflict' Certificate

Aug 8, 2014 | Nicholas Bariyo, The Wall Street Journal

KAMPALA, Uganda—Mineral exports have ground to a halt because a certification process aimed at stopping so-called "conflict minerals" from leaving the country hasn't been put…


DRC: Brutal, Conflict Minerals Smuggling General Escapes Justice

Aug 8, 2014 | Timo Mueller, Enough Project

In important developments last Thursday, on 31 July, Congolese authorities cleared all charges leveled against General Amisi Kumba, former commander of the Congolese land forces. Amisi was suspended on…


Iraq: The U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Iraq Are All About Oil

Aug 8, 2014 | John B. Judis, New Republic

Last night, President Barack Obama announced that he was authorizing American airtstrikes in Iraq. He described his intervention as a “humanitarian effort to help save…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Talisman Energy, Oryx Petroleum Suspend Operations in Iraq’s Kurdish Region Amid U.S. Air Strikes

Aug 8, 2014 | Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post

As U.S. planes bombed militant forces in northern Iraq, oil companies took emergency measures Friday to keep their staff out of harm’s way.

Talisman Energy Inc.…


South Sudan: Former South Sudan Ambassador Warns of Int’l ‘Hidden Hand’ Interested In Resources, War

Aug 8, 2014 | RIA Novosti

WASHINGTON, - While South Sudan owes its independence to international partners, it is wary of partners acting as a “hidden hand” interested only in its…


Myanmar: Burmese Among Victims of Massive Jade Scam in China

Aug 8, 2014 | Echo Hui, The Irrawaddy

HONG KONG — Hundreds of people, including Burmese jade dealers, have seen their fortunes vanish in a scam described as the biggest jade fraud case…


Myanmar: Myanmar Says Will Not Take Sides in Maritime Dispute

Aug 8, 2014 | May Wong, Channel News Asia

NAY PYI TAW: Myanmar's Information Minister Ye Htut has said Myanmar as ASEAN Chair will not take sides in any maritime dispute the bloc's members have…


DRC: Israeli Billionaire Finds 3 bln Barrels of Oil in Congo

Aug 7, 2014 | Peter Jones, Reuters

KINSHASA - An oil company owned by Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler said on Thursday it had discovered around 3 billion barrels of oil in the…


South Sudan: Investment in Kenyan Port Offers South Sudan Alternative Oil Export Route

Aug 7, 2014 | Lloyd's List

CHINESE investment to the tune of $480m in the new Kenyan port of Lamu is a significant milestone in enabling South Sudan to export its…


China/Vietnam: Vietnam Walks a Thin Line Between US and China After Oil Rig Exit

Aug 7, 2014 | An Dien, Thanh Nien News

Hanoi has kept the threat of an international lawsuit and stronger relations with Japan and the US on the table even after Beijing removed its…


Iraq/Kurdistan: A Tanker’s Tale: Iraq’s Oil Divide - Caught Up in a Row Between Kurdistan and Baghdad

Aug 6, 2014 | The Independent

Sixty miles off the coast of Texas sits a crude oil tanker fully loaded with years of antagonism between the Kurdish region of Iraq and…


South China Sea/China: China’s SOEs Test The Waters In The South China Sea

Aug 6, 2014 | Dr. Meg Bowman, The Establishment Post

In early May, the Chinese HYSY-981 oil rig was moved into waters near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. The oil rig…


Sudan: Sudan MP Accuses Army of Land Grabbing in Sennar

Aug 6, 2014 | Radio Tamazuj

Yusuf Abu Rouf, a member of Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly has accused elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces of grabbing land belonging to the Rufa‫a…


Syria: ISIL Seizes Village in Syria's Oil-Rich Deir ez-Zor

Aug 6, 2014 | World Bulletin

Militants led by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIL – captured Wednesday Suwayda village near Syria's eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, said…


Will Climate Change Lead to Conflict or Cooperation?

Aug 5, 2014 | IPS

Director of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, Raleigh thinks that researchers and the media have put too simplistic a spin on the…


Iraq: Middle East Water Wars: Why Islamic State Wants Iraq's Dams

Aug 5, 2014 | Nigel Wilson, International Business Times

When ultra-violent militants sliced through the outskirts of Iraq's northern capital of Mosul in June, central government soldiers quickly melted away into the southern desert…


South Sudan: Document: South Sudan Govt Seeks to Silence Famine Warnings

Aug 5, 2014 | Radio Tamazuj

South Sudan’s government has issued an advisory to humanitarian organizations not to publish independent statements on the food and nutrition situation in the country without…


South China Sea/Vietnam: Vietnam Orders Fishing Boats to be Armed with Machine Guns

Aug 5, 2014 | Want China Times

The Vietnamese government has issued an order stipulating that boats under the jurisdiction of the country's fishery law enforcement command should be equipped with weapons,…