International


South Sudan: East - West Tussle for Oil 'Sparked South Sudan War'

May 16, 2014 | Ramadhan Rajab, AllAfrica

STRUGGLE between the Western and Eastern countries over control of oil fields in Southern Sudan is behind the ongoing conflicts in the country, South Sudan's…


Sudan: Sudan Oil Industry’s Lingering Questions

May 15, 2014 | Alsir Sidahmed, Sudan Tribune

May 15, 2014 - A statement attributed to Petroleum Minister Eng. Makkawi Awad that Sudan’s oil reserves stand at 4 billion barrels raises more questions…


Myanmar: Despite Ceasefire, Army Seizes Land and Tortures Citizens in Southeast Myanmar - Report

May 14, 2014 | Thin Lei Win, Thomson Reuters Foundation

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The Myanmar army continues to commit rights abuses - seizing land and detaining and torturing citizens - in the country’s…


Myanmar: Land Grab Report to Inform Parliament Commission

May 14, 2014 | Eleven Media Group

The special report will discuss farmland disputes including the Thilawa Port Project and Migyaungkan evictions and suggest ways to solve these disputes. 

“The current methods have…


Myanmar: Coal-fire plant fuels concern in Mon State

May 14, 2014 | Nang Mya Nadi, Democratic Voice of Burma

Several civil society groups in Mon State have united in opposition to a proposed coal-fired power plant.

The Mon Youth Forum (MYF) and Ye Town Social…


Tunisia: Tunisian Discontent Reflected in Protests That Have Idled Mines

May 13, 2014 | Carlotta Gall, The New York Times

GAFSA, Tunisia — Tunisians often say the first uprising of the Arab Spring began not in 2010 after the self-immolation of a fruit vendor, Mohamed…


Ukraine: At Center of Ukraine Talks, Degrees of Decentralizing

May 13, 2014 | David M. Herszenhornd, The New York Times

KIEV, Ukraine — National “round-table” talks seeking to resolve Ukraine’s six-month political crisis by finding a formula for decentralizing power will begin Wednesday against a…


Liberia: Ellen Calls for Agriculture, Food Production

May 13, 2014 | Rewina Juduh, AllAfrica

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has encouraged Liberians to return to the soil and engage in agriculture and food production, noting the rewards are immense "though farming…


Myanmar: Courts, Cops, Cronies—The Three C's Driving Farmers to Ruin, and Jail

May 13, 2014 | Asian Human Rights Commission

The frenzy of land grabbing in Burma (Myanmar) amid the country's transition to nominally democratic government shows no signs of abating. Reports of the number…


Myanmar: Building barriers: Fencing off the Bangladesh border

May 13, 2014 | Democratic Voice of Burma

The construction of a fence along Burma’s border with Bangladesh has resumed in Arakan State.

New checkpoints will also be built to stop people entering Burma…


World: Climate Change Deemed Growing Security Threat by Military Researchers

May 13, 2014 | Coral Davenport, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The accelerating rate of climate change poses a severe risk to national security and acts as a catalyst for global political conflict, a…


Myanmar: Tea industry in steep decline

May 13, 2014 | Paing Soe, Democratic Voice of Burma

Tea-leaf producers in Namhsan, northern Shan State, are struggling to stay in business due to labour shortages and a surge in untaxed tea from neighbouring…


China/Vietnam: China and Vietnam at Impasse Over Rig in South China Sea

May 12, 2014 | Keith Bradsher, The New York Times

HONG KONG — China and Vietnam appear to have reached at least a temporary impasse over a giant drilling rig sent by a state-controlled Chinese…


Liberia: Liberian Police Accused of Brutality in Marshall Land Crisis

May 12, 2014 | Henry Karmo, AllAfrica

Ben Town — Residents of Ben Town, Marshall Road in Margibi County have complained of being brutalized by officers of the Police Emergency Response unit…


Myanmar: Vice President defends land seizures by Tatmadaw

May 12, 2014 | Sithu Maung Maung, Mizzima

Vice President U Nyan Tun defended land seizures by the former military government in comments at a ceremony at Kyaunggone Township in Ayeyarwady Region to…


China/Vietnam: Vietnam Fails to Rally Partners in China Dispute

May 11, 2014 | Mike Ives and Thomas Fuller, The New York Times

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam’s prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, accused China on Sunday of “dangerous and serious violations” in a territorial dispute that has raised…


China/Philippines: Philippines Jails Chinese Sailors in Fish Dispute

May 10, 2014 | Gerry Mullany, The New York Times

HONG KONG — Raising the stakes in its confrontation with China, the Philippines said Saturday that it had imprisoned 11 Chinese fishermen who were caught…


Russia/Ukraine: Russia Ratchets Up Ukraine's Gas Bills in Shift to an Economic Battlefield

May 10, 2014 | Steven Erlanger, The New York Times

LONDON - Gazprom, the natural gas giant 50.01 percent owned by the Russian government, keeps ratcheting up the bill for Ukraine, increasing the economic pressure…


Sierra Leone/Guinea: Fraud Warning and Fake Kimberley Process Certificates for Sierra Leone and Guinea

May 9, 2014 | US Department of State

The Department of State, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, in conjunction with U.S. Customs and Border Protection is advising the public on several scams…


Ukraine: Separatists Defy Kiev and Putin on Referendum

May 8, 2014 | C. J. Chivers and David M. Herszenhornc, The New York Times

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — Pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine vowed on Thursday to press ahead with a referendum seeking autonomy, a risky move that seemed to…


China/Vietnam: China Insists It Has Right to Put Rig off Vietnam

May 8, 2014 | Fuel Fix

BEIJING — China insisted Thursday it had every right to drill for oil off Vietnam’s coast and warned its neighbor to leave the area around…


South Sudan: Diplomat Says IGAD Force Will Not Protect South Sudan's Oil

May 8, 2014 | Radio Tamazuj

Sudan’s deputy ambassador in South Sudan says the proposed East African IGAD force in South Sudan will protect only ceasefire monitors and has no other…


South Sudan: African Markets - Factors to watch on May 8

May 8, 2014 | Retuers

South Sudan's government does not have enough money to pay its bills and will have to borrow from oil companies if the four-month rebellion in…


Conflict Minerals Reporting Deadline: Is Your Business Ready?

May 7, 2014 | Jeff Leinaweaver, The Guardian

As US businesses scramble to meet the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s conflict minerals disclosure rule – with the first reporting deadline rapidly approaching 2…


Myanmar: Farmers Injured in Clash With Police After Court Decision

May 7, 2014 | Nyein Nyein, The Irrawaddy

Two farmers were hospitalized Tuesday in Paungtae Township, Pegu Division, when police violently clashed with supporters of an activist denied bail in a case relating…


Myanmar: Deforestation Spreads as Timber Demand Soars

May 7, 2014 | The Myanmar Times

Ashen earth strewn with the limbs of once-mighty trees is all that is left of the fearsome forest in central Myanmar that Wa Tote remembers…


China/Vietnam: Vietnam Squares Off With China in Disputed Seas

May 7, 2014 | Gerry Mullany and David Barboza, The New York Times

HONG KONG — Tensions in the South China Sea intensified Wednesday as Vietnamese vessels confronted Chinese ships that were working to place an oil rig…


Africa: East Africa's Oil and Gas Infrastracture to Take Lead in Africa

May 6, 2014 | Constant Munda, AllAfrica

EAST Africa is poised to lead the rest of Africa in developing infrastructure for the nascent oil and gas industry, a new report by audit…


SEC Confirms Conflict Minerals Rule Remains (Largely) In Place

May 6, 2014 | Rakesh Gopalan, Alex J. Brackett, Richard W. Viola and Jane Whitt Sellers, McGuireWoods LLP

Yesterday the Division of Corporate Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued its much-anticipated guidance regarding its conflict minerals rule, stating that, with the…


Liberia: Affected Citizens Disrupt EPO Expansion in Grand Bassa County

May 6, 2014 | Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, AllAfrica

Buchanan — The Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) has again faced stiff resistance from some affected communities when residents disrupted an EPO mapping process on last…