International


Myanmar: Farmers Confront Minister During Rally

Sep 24, 2015 | Swan Ye Htut, Myanmar Times

Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation U Myint Hlaing came under pressure from constituents yesterday over allegations land had been taken from farmers and placed in…


Myanmar: One Dead, Several Injured as Mine Accident Floods Village

Sep 24, 2015 | Ko Htwe & Yamin Oo, Democratic Voice of Burma

A 12-year-old child was killed and several elderly residents were injured when the embankment of a tailing pond at a mine site collapsed, triggering a…


Myanmar: Election Takes a Back Seat as Flood-Hit Magwe’s Farmers Struggle to Rebuild

Sep 23, 2015 | Nay Aung, Myanmar Times

For the tens of thousands of farmers in Magwe Region still reeling from last month’s floods, the November election may not register as high-priority. With…


Liberia: Ellen Submits “Liberia Land Authority” Bill

Sep 23, 2015 | J. Burgess Carter, Liberian Observer

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf submitted to the Senate for enactment into law an Act to create the Liberia Land Authority. In her letter to that august…


South Sudan: S. Sudan Official: Oil Companies Did 'Nothing' to Protect Environment

Sep 23, 2015 | Radio Tamazuj

A petroleum ministry official has admitted that oil companies before and after independence have done nothing to stop environmental damage caused by oil extraction, while…


Australia: Australian Defence Under-Prepared for Climate Change Security Threat

Sep 22, 2015 | Michael Brissenden, ABC News

A former head of the Australian military has warned that the ADF needs to do more to integrate climate change impact into defence planning. Retired…


DRC: NGO Ranks 155 Companies Across 20 Industries Revealing Significant Supply Chain, ESG Risks for Major Brands

Sep 22, 2015 | PRNewswire

Most U.S. large cap companies are still lagging in efforts to affect positive change with regard to global humanitarian issues, according to research released today…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds Dealt Setback by U.S. Court Ruling on Oil Sale

Sep 22, 2015 | Bruce Stanley and Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Bloomberg

A U.S. federal court dealt a setback to efforts by Iraq’s self-governing Kurds to sell Iraqi crude oil in the U.S., further complicating the Kurdish…


Sudan: Sudan Says Oil Companies Refusing to Repair Faulty Wells amid Oil Slump

Sep 22, 2015 | Sudan Tribune

The Sudanese government disclosed on Tuesday that it has been unable to raise its production of oil due to the global slide in crude prices.…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds Reassert Right to Export Oil to U.S. Despite Court Ruling

Sep 22, 2015 | Reuters

Kurdistan reasserted its right to export oil independently to the United States and other countries on Tuesday despite a court ruling in favor of the…


Syria: Syrian War Spurs First Withdrawal from Doomsday Arctic Seed Vault

Sep 21, 2015 | Alister Doyle, Reuters

Syria's civil war has prompted the first withdrawal of seeds from a "doomsday" vault built in an Arctic mountainside to safeguard global food supplies, officials…


Iraq: Four Killed in Suspected Iraq Cholera Outbreak

Sep 19, 2015 | AFP

A suspected cholera outbreak has killed four people west of Baghdad, where vulnerable displaced populations have been affected by the lack of clean water, health…


Myanmar: UK Mining Firm Withdraws Permit for Jade Area in Kachin State

Sep 19, 2015 | Kachin News

Aurasian Minerals Plc (AuM) a British mining firm that last year had applied for a mineral exploration permit in a jade mining area in Burma…


Iraq/Kurdistan: KRG Gas Unlikely to Arrive in Turkey Earlier Than 2019

Sep 18, 2015 | Ali Ünal, Daily Sabah

As the future of the Turkish Stream is still uncertain due to disagreements between Russia and Turkey, natural gas resources from the Kurdistan Regional Government…


DRC: Congo's Conflict Minerals: US Companies Struggle to Trace Tantalum, Tungsten, Tin, Gold in Their Products

Sep 18, 2015 | Morgan Winsor, International Business Times

US firms are spending millions to comply with a complex provision in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that requires companies to divulge their use of…


Liberia: Imminent Land Crisis If… -As G/Gedeh Seeks Intervention

Sep 17, 2015 | In Profile Daily

Grand Gedeh County Superintendent, Peter L. Solo, has made a passionate plea to United Nations Secretary General Special Representative to Liberia to help use diplomatic…


Myanmar: Surge in Illegal Logging by Chinese in Myanmar Alarms Activists

Sep 17, 2015 | Tom Phillips, The Guardian

A torrent of illegal timber worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year is pouring across Myanmar’s border into China as loggers reach deeper into…


China/Philippines/South China Sea: China Reportedly Building Runway on Reef Near Philippine-Claimed Gas Field

Sep 17, 2015 | Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes

China appears to be building an airstrip on a dredged reef near an oil and gas field also claimed by the Philippines, a move that…


Iraq/Kurdistan: To Boost Local Production KRG Invites Bidders to Build Oil Refineries

Sep 16, 2015 | Rudaw

In a bid to increase domestic refining capacity, the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) calls on interested companies in the oil refining industry to…


Japan/United States/Okinawa: Pentagon Blocks Report on ‘Toxic Contamination’ at Base Outside Okinawa Capital

Sep 16, 2015 | Jon Mitchell, Japan Times

The U.S. military is refusing to release a report detailing environmental contamination at Camp Kinser, a 2.7-sq.-km U.S. Marine Corps supply base near Okinawa’s capital,…


China/Vietnam/Japan/South China Sea: Japan to Give Vietnam Boats, Equipment Amid China's Buildup

Sep 15, 2015 | John Boudreau, Bloomberg

Japan will extend 100 billion yen ($832 million) in infrastructure aid to Vietnam and provide patrol boats as the two countries vow to expand ties…


Myanmar: Oil and Gas Experts Predict Burmese Boomtown

Sep 14, 2015 | Democratic Voice of Burma

Despite the slump in energy prices, oil and gas fields in Burma will soon be the busiest in Asia as foreign and local investors begin…


Africa: African Nations Work Together to Rid Supply Chains of Conflict Materials

Sep 14, 2015 | Alison Moodie, Guardian

A group of African nations have developed a framework that will make it easier for companies to keep conflict minerals out of their supply chains.…


Iraq: Iraq Warns Oil Companies of Spending Cuts

Sep 14, 2015 | Kevin Baxter, Wall Street Journal

Iraq’s oil ministry has issued a stark warning to the international oil companies running its energy sector that it will slash spending in 2016 as…


Liberia: Two Foreigners, Ivorian and Burkinabe Arrested for Illegally Farming on Liberia Land, as 200 Chased Out

Sep 13, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, Global News Network

A member of the Grand Gedeh Legislative Caucus, Representative Alex Grant of District #3 has disclosed that his citizens have arrested two foreigners, an Ivorian…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Watch Out China: Vietnam's Coast Guard Will Fight Back

Sep 11, 2015 | Ankit Panda, The Diplomat

Starting October 20, 2015, Vietnamese coast guard vessels will be permitted to use on-board weapons to deter and repel foreign boats. According to a report by…


Myanmar: Shan Villagers and the Salween Dam Fight

Sep 11, 2015 | Dana MacLean, The Diplomat

The increasing army presence to defend the construction of a controversial Salween river dam in southeastern Myanmar’s Shan state has sparked heightened concerns among rural…


Myanmar: Myanmar Third-Worst for Deforestation Rate, Says UN

Sep 11, 2015 | Aye Sapay Phyu, Myanmar Times

Since 2010, Myanmar has lost more than 546,000 hectares (over 1.3 million acres) of forest on average each year, according to a report by the…


Liberia: A Transition into the New "Liberia Land Authority", a Priority That Requires Collective Efforts (part I)

Sep 11, 2015 | Liberian Observer

Liberia’s land administration and management system has negatively impacted the socio-economic and political wellbeing of all Liberians. Property rights in land are characterized by weak…


DRC: New Scheme Seeks to Improve Tracking of DRC Minerals

Sep 9, 2015 | Nick Long, Voice of America

The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is renowned for its mineral wealth, but much of that wealth is untapped, partly because of fears that mineral…