International
Iraq: There is No Respite for Iraq’s Oil Industry
Dec 13, 2015
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Saadallah Al Fathi, Gulf News
Iraq’s oil revenues are now projected at $50 billion this year compared to about $84 billion in 2014 even though exports increased by about 0.5…
South Sudan: Camera Traps Snap First Photos of Endangered Elephants (and Other Rare Species) in South Sudan
Dec 11, 2015
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Earth Touch
Despite years of civil conflict in South Sudan, the nation’s wildlife seems to be persevering. A new camera trap survey has revealed that the country’s…
United States: SEC Proposes Rules for Resource Extraction Issuers under Dodd-Frank Act
Dec 11, 2015
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US Securities and Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to propose rules that would require resource extraction issuers to disclose payments made to the U.S. federal government…
Iraq/Kurdistan: War with Islamic State, Low Oil Prices Cripple Once-Vibrant Economy in Iraq's Kurdish Region
Dec 10, 2015
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Balint Szlanko, Associated Press
Less than two years ago, Iraq's northern Kurdish region was booming, as oil revenues poured in and foreign investors flocked to a rare island of…
Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Leaked Budget Document Provides Glimpse into How ISIS Makes Money [Audio]
Dec 10, 2015
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Stacey Vanek Smith, NPR
NPR explores how ISIS gets its money and why that makes it so hard to turn off the money spigot. It examines how ISIS makes…
Uganda: Family Members Abet Land Grabbing - Justice Bamwine
Dec 7, 2015
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Ephraim Kasozi and Juliet Kigongo, The Monitor
Despite the existence of formal land disputes resolution mechanisms in the country, property grabbing remains most pervasive because people involved in most disputes are family…
Liberia: Burkinabes and Ghanaians Entering Liberia's Virgin Forest to Harvest Licorice Root – Says FDA Boss, Harrison Karnwea
Dec 7, 2015
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Global News Network
The Managing Director of Liberian Forestry Development Authority has disclosed that people were coming from as far as Burkina Faso and Ghana and entering Liberia's…
Iraq/Islamic State: Iraq PM Says Turkey Main Conduit for Islamic State Oil-Smuggling
Dec 7, 2015
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Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Monday that most of the oil produced in Islamic State-held territory in Iraq and Syria was being smuggled…
Colombia: Arrests Point to Urabeños' Evolving Role in Colombia's Illegal Mining
Dec 7, 2015
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Michael Lohmuller, InSight Crime
Authorities in Colombia have dismantled a network of illegal mining operators allegedly working for drug trafficking group the Urabeños, providing further evidence of how the…
Liberia: As They Abandon Barren Land, Farmers Take Problems with Them
Dec 6, 2015
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Megan Rowling, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Creeping deserts, loss of trees, barren soils and water shortages are pushing poor farmers off their land from Africa to Latin America, forcing people to…
Mexico: Brutal Cartels Fight over Mexico's 'Conflict-Free' Gold Revenues
Dec 6, 2015
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Frank Jack Daniel, Anahi Rama, and Lizbeth Diaz, Reuters
Heroin traffickers linked to the abduction and disappearance of 43 students a year ago are battling over millions of dollars paid by Canadian mining giant…
Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Launches Investigation into Killing of Fisherman in Disputed Waters
Dec 4, 2015
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Koel Chu, Hong Kong Free Press
Vietnamese officials have begun an investigation into the death of a fisherman who was shot in disputed waters in the South China Sea. Sources claim that…
Water Wars: Water Wars at Core of ISIS, Syria, Israel-Palestine and Other Conflicts Reports Fresh Water Advocate Sharon Kleyne
Dec 4, 2015
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PRWeb
Water, not oil or gold, is the world’s most precious commodity. Water not only keeps every living organism alive, it is the basis for all…
Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Islamic State’s Moneymaking Streams Take a Hit as It Loses Territory
Dec 4, 2015
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Hugh Naylor, Washington Post
By most estimates, the Islamic State is the world’s richest terrorist organization. But it appears to be wrestling with money problems that could affect its…
Peru: Illegal Gold Miners in Madre de Dios, Peru, Paralyze the Region with Protests
Dec 4, 2015
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Ruxandra Guidi, Mongabay
Since November 23, the southeastern region of Madre de Dios in Peru has been paralyzed by street protests, road blockades, and tire burnings. Hundreds of…
Liberia: Taylor Land Dispute - Several Jailed in Tussle - Police Wounded
Dec 2, 2015
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Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, FrontPageAfrica
Former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor who is currently serving 50 years sentence in The Hague has requested the court to grant him damages on…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds Make $3.29bn from Direct Oil Sales
Dec 2, 2015
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Agence France-Presse
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region said Tuesday it has made more than $3.29 billion in revenues since June from direct oil export sales that the country’s…
Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: Maps Reveal Chain of ISIS Oil Smuggling Routes from Syria and Iraq into Turkey. Russian Defense Ministry
Dec 2, 2015
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Global Research
Russia’s Defense Ministry published images and a map it says reveal a chain of oil smuggling to Turkey from Islamic State – from extraction to…
Iraq/Turkey/Islamic State: Iraq to File Complaint against Turkey if Daesh-Ankara Oil Trade Confirmed
Dec 2, 2015
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PressTV
Baghdad says it will lodge a formal lawsuit against Ankara with the United Nations Security Council if claims are proved right that the Turkish government is…
Sierra Leone: AWDC Issues Alert over Fake Sierra Leone KP Certificate
Dec 1, 2015
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David Brummer, IDEX
The Antwerp World Diamond Center’s (AWDC) Diamond Office has alerted the Kimberley Process (KP) about the discovery of a false KP certificate from Sierra Leone.…
South Sudan: Bishops Call on South Sudan Government, Oil Companies to Clean up Pariang Spills
Dec 1, 2015
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Radio Tamazuj
The Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan has appealed to the government of South Sudan and oil companies to deal with the oil spills…
Algeria/Iraq/Libya/Nigeria/Venezuela: Oil Plunge Raises Fears of Societal Unrest
Nov 30, 2015
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Elizabeth MacDonald, FOXBusiness
With Wall Street shops like Goldman Sachs and government officials in Venezuela signaling oil could go to the mid-$20 per barrel range next year,…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Dana Gas Group Awarded $1.98 Billion in Iraq Kurds Dispute
Nov 29, 2015
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Arif Sharif, World Oil
Dana Gas said a court has ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government to pay it and two other energy companies $1.98 billion in a dispute over…
Climate Change: Meet the Woman Whose Two-Word Catchphrase Made the Military Care about Climate
Nov 29, 2015
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Dan Vergano, BuzzFeed
In 2006, as war mounted in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military began to see the human costs of climate extremes. As drought hit Afghanistan,…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Villagers Sue Mining Company in London High Court
Nov 29, 2015
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Lisa O'Carroll, The Guardian
An iron ore firm once listed in London is being sued in a multimillion pound lawsuit over evictions and alleged violent treatment of workers and…
Timor-Leste: Maritime Arrangements and Timor-Leste’s Oil Ploy
Nov 28, 2015
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Hamish McDonald, Saturday Paper
Who owns the petroleum resources of Tasi Mane is now the subject of diplomatic and legal machismo in a dispute between Timor-Leste and its much…
South Sudan: What Steps are Needed to Create 28 States in South Sudan?
Nov 28, 2015
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Radio Tamazuj
The proposal by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir to create 28 new states in place of the 10 existing states requires practical as well as…
Timor-Leste: Top Lawyer Says Australia Has Criminal Case to Answer over East Timor Spying Scandal
Nov 27, 2015
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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
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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
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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…