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House Hearing on Conflict Minerals Rule: A Mixed Bag

Nov 27, 2015 | Cydney Posner

At a hearing last week before a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, the members heard testimony regarding the Dodd-Frank conflict minerals provision. The Chair expressed…

Why It’s Time for a Free Kurdistan

Nov 27, 2015 | Aliza Marcus and Andrew Apostolou

It’s time to stop debating whether or not the Kurds deserve an independent state. There are around 40 million Kurds across Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and…

Timor-Leste: Top Lawyer Says Australia Has Criminal Case to Answer over East Timor Spying Scandal

Nov 27, 2015 | Steve Cannane, Sashka Koloff, and Brigid Andersen, ABC News

One of Australia's most senior lawyers believes there is a criminal case to answer over an Australian spying operation in East Timor and that senior…

Myanmar: Controversial Mining Bill Submitted to Parliament for a Third Time

Nov 27, 2015 | Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times

The long-awaited Mining Law amendment bill, which will update legislation from 1994, was suspended earlier this year following fierce disagreements between the upper and lower…

Myanmar: Environmentalists Hope for Stronger Safeguards under NLD

Nov 27, 2015 | Nyein Nyein, The Irrawaddy

In the wake of recent disasters that have shone a light on the human toll wrought by a lack of environmental and development-related safeguards, local…

South Sudan/Sudan/Abyei: UN: Child, Peacekeeper Killed in Attack in Disputed Border Town between South Sudan and Sudan

Nov 27, 2015 | Associated Press

The U.N. says a 4-year-old girl and an Ethiopian peacekeeper were killed and three others wounded in an attack on Thursday in the contested Abyei…

Liberia: NOCAL Claims Community Projects That Do Not Exist

Nov 27, 2015 | Tetee Gebro, FrontPageAfrica

The news that the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) had delivered two much-needed latrines and a water well hand pump to his community came…

China/Vietnam/Taiwan/Brunei/South China Sea: A New Confidence-Building Process for the South China Sea?

Nov 26, 2015 | Bill Hayton, Diplomat

A half-day meeting in Vietnam on Wednesday could mark the beginning of a new confidence-building process in the South China Sea. The meeting, held in…

Myanmar: Myanmar's Suu Kyi Blames Lack of Safety Regulations for Deadly Landslide

Nov 26, 2015 | Aung Hla Tun and Hnin Yadana Zaw, Reuters

A disregard for the rule of law in the jade mining industry in Myanmar had made accidents such as the landslide that killed more than…

Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Raqqa's Rockefellers: How Islamic State Oil Flows to Israel

Nov 26, 2015 | Al-Araby al-Jadeed

Oil produced from fields under the control of the Islamic State group is at the heart of a new investigation by al-Araby al-Jadeed. The black…

Ex-CIA Chief: Fear for Environment Stays US Hand on ISIS Oil Wells

Nov 25, 2015 | Bradford Richardson

A former CIA director says concerns about environmental impact have prevented the White House from bombing oil wells that finance the Islamic State in Iraq…

Will Low Oil Prices Increase Internal Instability In Conflict Countries?

Nov 25, 2015 | Ryan Opsal

With over 1.6 million internally displaced in South Sudan, and another 600,000 refugees in neighboring countries, are oil price declines exacerbating humanitarian crises in oil-producing African countries,…

Nigeria's Oil Curse

Nov 25, 2015 | Hilary Matfess

On Nov. 8, the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, announced that the state-run company was on the verge of a major oil…

Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: The Water Wars Waged by Islamic State

Nov 25, 2015 | Ambika Vishwanath, Forbes

The Islamic State’s use of natural resources to achieve its strategic goals has been much discussed. Oil, one of the group’s biggest sources of funding,…

Cambodia: Land Grabs Often Driven by Investors Seeking Land, Global Witness Says

Nov 25, 2015 | Phorn Bopha, Voice of America

Researchers at the environmental watchdog Global Witness say Cambodia’s ongoing land crisis is part of a larger global trend, one driven by economics and resource…

Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: US Syria Sanctions Target World Chess Chief, IS Oil Buyer

Nov 25, 2015 | Agence France-Presse

The United States slapped sanctions Wednesday on backers of the Syrian regime including a middleman accused of buying oil from the Islamic State group and…

RFS is Crucial to National Security

Nov 24, 2015 | Jon Soltz

As a veteran, I’ve witnessed fellow servicemen and servicewomen risk life and limb over oil interests in hostile regions, all so we can feed our…

Conflict Minerals: China Draft Conflict Minerals Guidance Expected Next Month

Nov 24, 2015 | Chemical Watch

China's guidelines for responsible mineral supply chains are expected to be announced, during a workshop on the issue, to be held by the OECD and…

Liberia: How Sime Darby & Oil Palm Production Will Help Liberia's Economy

Nov 24, 2015 | Toweh Alphonso, New Republic

From the sixties up to few years back, only two key commodities were known once Liberia name was mentioned. But today, the story is changing.…

Afghanistan: Food Prices Rise Sharply after Fighting Disrupts Afghan Harvest

Nov 24, 2015 | Bilal Sarwary, IRIN

Food prices are shooting up in Afghanistan as the harvest has been halted in the country’s breadbasket in the northern province of Kunduz, where farmers…

Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste Urged to Diversify Economy

Nov 24, 2015 | Eric Frykberg, Radio New Zealand

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) information shows the country is in danger of running out of money due to the decline…

Islamic State: Is Turkey Buying Oil from ISIS? After Downed Plane, Putin Slams Islamic State's Black Market Fuel Sales

Nov 24, 2015 | Elizabeth Whitman, International Business Times

The fact that Turkey shot down a Russian plane is not the only reason Russian President Vladimir Putin is furious. Since the jet fighter was…

Syria/Islamic State: ISIS in Syria: US Air Strikes Destroy 283 Oil Tankers Used for Smuggling to Fund Terror Group

Nov 24, 2015 | Lizzie Dearden, Independent

US fighter jets and gunships have destroyed 283 Isis oil tankers in Syria as part of efforts to cripple the terror group’s income streams. American…

Sierra Leone: Diamond Mining Company Octea Facing Claims It Owes Money to Sierra Leone Town and New York Jeweller Tiffany

Nov 24, 2015 | David Connett, Independent

Tiffany has announced it has deferred payment of $50m (£33m) of loans it made to Octea to develop the mine while Koidu town council now…