International


DRC: Child Labour Won't Stop with Conflict-Free Labels and Voluntary Codes

May 12, 2015 | Josephine Moulds, The Guardian

A fight is brewing in Europe over new rules for companies to report on so-called “conflict minerals”, which are commonly found in mobile phones, laptops,…


Liberia: Liberia's Remaining Forest Threatened, If...

May 12, 2015 | Wellington G. Patrick, Liberia News Agency

The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ms Anyaa Vohiri, predicts that though Liberia holds a large chunk of sub-Saharan forest, it remains…


Timor-Leste: Drop in Oil Production Reduces Timor-Leste’s Revenue

May 11, 2015 | Macauhub

A drop in oil and natural gas production has been the main factor behind a reduction of oil revenues to Timor-Leste (East Timor), which account…


Islamic State: How IS Uses Water as a Weapon of War

May 11, 2015 | Walaa Hussein, Al-Monitor

The Middle East is facing a water crisis. As the region experiences conflicts over water and faces the continuous risk of war breaking out, experts on water predict that the Islamic…


Sudan: Contract for Khartoum Oil Pipeline Signed

May 11, 2015 | Radio Dabanga

The first Sudanese contract to build pipelines for petroleum between Khartoum and Wad Madani, the capital of El Gezira state, was signed on Sunday. The…


Bangladesh/India: Enclaves in Bangladesh: Reports of Scuffles over Land Grabbing

May 10, 2015 | The Indian Express

Days after Parliament ratified the land swap agreement with Bangladesh, there are reports of “law and order” problem over the alleged land grabbing in the…


DRC: Dodd-Frank’s Misadventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo

May 10, 2015 | Tom Burgis, Politico

Looking out on the banana plants and cassava shrubs of Central Africa, it was odd to imagine the tentacles of a bank reform bill in…


Iraq: Economist: Ex-PM Maliki Lost Iraq $500bn in Oil

May 9, 2015 | Rudaw

Economist Adnan Janabi, the former head of the Iraqi parliament's oil and gas committee, has criticized Baghdad's oil policies and laid the blame on ex-prime…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Row Boils Over as Baghdad ‘Refuses’ KRG’s Full Share

May 8, 2015 | Rudaw

Iraq’s central government has refused to send the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s share of oil revenue for the month of April which were previously agreed…


Timor-Leste: ICJ Confirms Aust to Return Timor Docs

May 7, 2015 | Julian Drape, AAP

The United Nation's top court has confirmed it's authorised Australia to return documents seized from a lawyer representing East Timor in a dispute over a…


Nigeria: Bill to End Fulani, Farmers’ Conflict Scales Second Reading

May 7, 2015 | Sylvester Ugwuanyi, Daily Post

A bill seeking to bring an end to the conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers which had resulted into loss of lives and property across…


DRC: Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Next Emerging Economy?

May 7, 2015 | Djenabou Cisse, Global Risk Insights

With positive macroeconomic indicators, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is aspiring to be an emerging country by 2030. To achieve this goal, the country…


Sudan: Sudan Warns Against Illegal Mining Activities in Neighbouring Countries

May 6, 2015 | Sudan Tribune

Sudan has warned its nationals against illegal expansion of traditional mining activities outside Sudanese territories and described the phenomenon as a “time bomb” that would…


Kenya: Dozens Killed in Fighting Tied to Cattle Raid

May 6, 2015 | New York Times

Fifty-four people have been killed in Kenya’s north in fighting that the police say was started by a cattle raid, the Kenya Red Cross said…


Colombia: More Land in Colombia Used to Grow Coca, U.S. Says

May 6, 2015 | William Neuman, New York Times

The amount of land in Colombia used to grow coca, the plant that drug traffickers use to make cocaine, increased significantly last year, according to…


Iraq/Kurdistan: KRG: Erbil Committed to Oil Export Agreement and Baghdad Should Send the Budget

May 5, 2015 | Shwan Barzinji, Basnews

An official from the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said that the KRG has fulfilled all of…


South Sudan/Sudan/Abyei: U.N. Says Apprehended Sudan Intel Officer after Attack Near Abyei

May 5, 2015 | Louis Charbonneau, Reuters

U.N. peacekeepers in the disputed region of Abyei along the border of Sudan and South Sudan apprehended someone claiming to be a Sudanese intelligence officer…


Myanmar: Mass Protest Held Against Mon State Coal Plant Proposal

May 5, 2015 | Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy

An estimated 5000 people from villages across Ye Township gathered in Inn Din village on Tuesday morning to protest the Union government’s plan to build…


India: Politicians, Bureaucrats Involved in Forest Land Grabbing, Smuggling: Minister

May 4, 2015 | Kashmir Life

In a bid to put lid over the grabbing of forest land and timber smuggling in Jammu and Kashmir, government Monday said that big names…


Liberia: GROW-Liberia Launches Innovative Agriculture Programme

May 4, 2015 | Front Page Africa

GROW Liberia officially launches its landmark “Making Markets Work for the Poor” (M4P) agricultural market development programmed on the seventh of May.
The GROW-led M4P…


Timor-Leste: George Brandis Hands Over to East Timor Docs Seized by ASIO

May 3, 2015 | Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald

The Australian government has agreed to return legal documents and data seized by ASIO to the East Timorese government. It is the latest twist in a…


Iraq: Source: Islamic State Attacks Iraq’s Biggest Oil Refinery with Suicide Bombers and Car Bombs

May 3, 2015 | Benjamin Gilbert , Vice

Fierce fighting has erupted at Iraq's largest oil refinery after militant fighters with the so-called Islamic State (IS) used suicide bombers, car bombs, rockets, and mortars…


South Sudan: South Sudan Seeks to Generate Non-Oil Revenues through Economic Diversification

May 3, 2015 | Sudan Tribune

South Sudanese government said its economy needed urgent diversification to wean it from depending on oil in long term response to the economic crisis, urging…


Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste Welcomes Australia's Return of Spying Documents Seized by Asio

May 3, 2015 | Daniel Hurst, The Guardian

The Timor-Leste government has praised a decision by the Australian government to return documents about past spying that were at the centre of raids by…


Myanmar: Moving the Earth: Women Take On Land Aggressors

May 3, 2015 | Sonya Carassik Ratty, Democratic Voice of Burma

From the platinum reserves in eastern Shan State to the Shwe gas pipeline in south-western Arakan, much of Burma’s wealth lies in the earth. As…


China/South China Sea: Making Waves

May 2, 2015 | The Economist

In November, after months of frantic land reclamation in the South China Sea aimed at boosting its vast territorial claim there, China tried a subtler…


China/South China Sea: China is Building Mobile Islands in the East Sea

May 2, 2015 | VietNamNet Bridge

In relation to warnings about American experts on China’s manufacturing of a series of "mobile islands" in the East Sea, marine expert Phan Vinh Tri,…


Cote d’Ivoire/Liberia: Trouble at Liberia/Ivorian Border, Land Encroachment by Ivorians Gives Rise to Serious Conflict between Both Countries

May 1, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, Global News Network

Report from Liberia/Ivorians border speaks of serious conflict between citizens of both Countries following report that the citizens of Ivory Coast have resolved to encroach…


Liberia: Senator Proposes Oil Benefit Bill

Apr 30, 2015 | Necus M. Andrews, The NEWS

A bill seeking for the allocation of five percent of the rights and interest in each petroleum block has been introduced at the Liberian Senate.…


Land Grabbing: Banks and Pension Funds Continue to Bankroll Deforestation and Land Grabs

Apr 30, 2015 | Andrew Simms, The Guardian

Whether its food you’re putting in your mouth, or products you’re putting on your body, the probability is that half of them contain palm oil.…