International

Sudan: Sudan Bank-Lending Ban Stirs Risk as Oil Revenue Dwindles

Jun 30, 2014 | Maher Chmaytelli, Bloomberg

Sudan risks storing up trouble for itself by slapping lending curbs on banks amid soaring inflation and a slump in oil-pipeline revenue.

The central bank, led…

DRC: DRC's Gecamines to Cut 6 000 Jobs

Jun 30, 2014 | Felix Njini, The Southern Times

Windhoek - The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s state mining company will cut around 6 000 jobs ‑ more than half its workforce - as it…

Sudan Signs Agreement to Transport 50% of S. Sudan's Oil

Jun 29, 2014 | Shadia Basheri - Sudan Vision Daily

Khartoum – An agreement was signed yesterday between the Ministry of Petroleum and partners operating in the Petrodar project to transport fifty percent of South…

Sudan Seals New Agreement With Petrodar on Transit Fees

Jun 28, 2014 | Sudan Tribune

The Sudanese government and Petrodar oil company signed an agreement on Saturday, by which the latter pays $19.8 per barrel of oil flowing from oilfields…

Conflict Minerals: Department of Commerce Hasn’t Met Conflict Minerals Obligations, GAO Says

Jun 27, 2014 | Ken Tysiac, Journal of Accountancy

Although U.S. public companies were required to file their first conflict minerals disclosures earlier this month, a new government report shows that the U.S. Department…

Conflict Minerals: In Conflict Mineral Disclosures, Different Industries Seeing Different Trends

Jun 27, 2014 | Yin Wilczek, The Bureau of National Affairs

Based on their first-ever conflict minerals disclosures, different industries are approaching the Securities and Exchange Commission's conflict minerals requirements in different ways, a consultant said…

Liberia: SIFCA Accused of Violating Communities' Rights in Liberia's Southeast

Jun 27, 2014 | AllAfrica

Monrovia — SIFCA an agribusiness group which operates in Liberia through two subsidiaries Maryland Palm Oil Plantation (MOPP) and Cavalla Rubber Corporation's (CRC) has been…

Myanmar: Myitsone Will Harm China-Burma Relations: Ethnic Politicians

Jun 27, 2014 | Zarni Mann, The Irrawaddy

MANDALAY — Ethnic politicians from Burma have warned the Chinese government that resumption of the Myitsone dam project will harm relations between the two countries,…

Myanmar: UN: 'Poverty and corruption' fueling Myanmar's opium woes

Jun 27, 2014 | Gabriel Dominguez, Deutsche Welle

Myanmar is the world's second largest producer of opium - the raw ingredient for heroin - after Afghanistan, accounting for 10 percent of global production.…

South Sudan: South Sudan's Oil Output Slips to 160,000 bpd - Ministry Official

Jun 26, 2014 | Carl Odera, Reuters

JUBA, June 26 (Reuters) - South Sudan's oil production is averaging about 160,000 barrels per day (bpd), slipping by about 5,000 bpd on numbers released…

Myanmar: Real Winners of Myanmar’s Oil and Gas Blocks Remain Hidden

Jun 26, 2014 | Global Witness

The majority of companies recently awarded oil and gas blocks in Myanmar have failed to answer questions over who really owns them, said Global Witness as…

Myanmar: The Opaque World of Myanmar’s Oil Industry

Jun 26, 2014 | Michael Peel, Financial Times

A Kazakh gas magnate, a furniture maker and two brothers once under international sanctions are part of a colourful cast flocking largely unnoticed to Myanmar’s…

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…