International


Liberia: "U.S.$20 Million Lost to Illicit Money"

Nov 21, 2014 | Keith Morris, Liberian Observer

A research report released yesterday on the Liberian economy shows that an estimated US$20 million is lost annually due to illicit financial flow (IFF).

According to…


Iraq/Kurdistan: BP Seeks Kirkuk Oil Field Revival, Starts Talk with Baghdad

Nov 20, 2014 | Hellenic Shipping News

U.K. supermajor BP plc (BP) has initiated a contract talk with the Iraq’s Oil Ministry to develop the Kirkuk oil field – a potential area…


Liberia: 'FDA Has Capacity Limitation' - Liberia's Forest Chief On U.S.$150 Million Deal

Nov 20, 2014 | AllAfrica

When it was announced at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York that the Government of Norway would be partnering with the Government of…


Conflict Minerals: Project to Tackle Conflict Minerals Given Grant to Expand Efforts

Nov 20, 2014 | Marino Donati, Supply Management

A programme to build responsible minerals supply chains in conflict areas will be expanded following a grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation.

The philanthropic arm of the…


Iraq: Iraq Losing Billions In Oil Exports After ISIL Captured Pipeline

Nov 20, 2014 | World Tribune

BAGHDAD — Iraq has been losing billions of dollars because of a halt in crude oil exports.

The Oil Ministry said Baghdad was losing $1.2 billion…


Liberia: Forestry Chief Says U.S.$150 Million Norway Deal Not Anti-Logging

Nov 19, 2014 | AllAfrica

Monrovia — In the wake of the signing of a forest conservation agreement between the Government of Liberia and the European Union through the Government…


Iraq: Inside Islamic State’s Oil Empire: How Captured Oilfields Fuel Isis Insurgency

Nov 19, 2014 | Fazel Hawramy, Shalaw Mohammed and Luke Harding, The Guardian

Islamic State has consolidated its grip on oil supplies in Iraq and now presides over a sophisticated smuggling empire with illegal exports going to Turkey,…


South Sudan: Wildlife Devastated in South Sudan War: Conservationists

Nov 19, 2014 | Peter Martell, AFP

Nairobi - Warring factions in South Sudan have slaughtered, poached and eaten "alarming" numbers of endangered wildlife, devastating one of Africa's largest migrations, conservationists warned…


Afghanistan: Land-Grabbing by Powerful Rife in Afghanistan - Watchdog

Nov 19, 2014 | Reuters

Corruption and weak regulation have allowed nearly a quarter of a million hectares of land to be seized in Afghanistan over the last decade, often…


South Sudan: Govt Denies Reports of Oil Leak in Unity State

Nov 19, 2014 | Sudan Tribune

Juba — South Sudan's minister for petroleum and mining has dismissed reports of an oil leak in severely damaged fields in Unity state. Speaking to…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq, Kurdish Region Implement Deal on Oil Exports, Salaries

Nov 19, 2014 | Reuters

The government of Iraq and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region have begun implementing a deal under which Baghdad resumes funding Kurdish civil servant salaries in return…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Can the Iraqi-Kurdish Oil Deal Last?

Nov 18, 2014 | Nick Cunningham, Christian Science Monitor

Kurdistan and the Iraqi central government have reached an important agreement over oil.

Although the deal is only an interim agreement, leaving larger issues unresolved, the…


Conflict Minerals: Federal Appeals Court to Reconsider Conflict Minerals Rule

Nov 18, 2014 | Tim Devaney, The Hill

U.S. companies may be required after all to disclose whether their products are manufactured with "conflict minerals" from war-torn parts of Africa, a federal appeals…


South Sudan: S Sudan Minister Says Cleaning Up Damage to Oil Fields

Nov 18, 2014 | Radio Tamazuj

South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum and Mining Stephen Dhieu Dau says that the government is now cleaning up damages caused during recent fighting between SPLA-IO…


Central African Republic: Central African Republic New ‘Blood Diamond’ Hub

Nov 18, 2014 | Martin Creamer, Mining Weekly

The dysfunctional Central African Republic (CAR) has taken over as the country where “blood diamond” activity is again rife.

Diamonds worth $24-million have been smuggled out…


Liberia: Oil Bid Round 'Transparent' - Nocal Replies Global Witness

Nov 18, 2014 | AllAfrica

Monrovia — Aletha Sherman, the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for the National Oil Company of Liberia says the Bid Round team has worked…


Myanmar: Villagers to Protest Over Grisly Death of Kachin Jade Picker

Nov 18, 2014 | Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy

RANGOON — Hundreds of villagers will protest this week after a jade scavenger was allegedly murdered and mutilated in Hpakant, a resource-rich area in northern…


China/Myanmar: Myanmar-China Border Dispute a Matter for Foreign Ministry Say Shan State Government

Nov 18, 2014 | Kyel Pyar, Mizzima

The Shan State government says the Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs should handle a border dispute concerning three villages now occupied by Chinese citizens but…


Liberia: Chief Karwor Requests Land for Post-Ebola Farming

Nov 18, 2014 | Johnson Bobby Liway, AllAfrica

The Chairman of the National Traditional Council of Liberia, Chief Zanzan Karwor, is urging the Ministry of Internal Affairs to request local officials in each…


Iraq: Iraq’s Biggest Oil Plant to Reopen After Militants Moved

Nov 18, 2014 | Kadhim Ajrash and Khalid Al-Ansary, Businessweek

Iraq’s biggest oil refinery at Baiji is set to restart processing in about three months after government troops forced Islamic State armed militants away from…


South Sudan: South Sudan Govt Claims Full Control of Oilfields

Nov 18, 2014 | Star Africa

South Sudan has announced that it is in full control of the oilfields in the troubled Unity State, the scene of fighting between government troops…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan to Begin Exporting Oil Through SOMO After Loan from Baghdad: KRG Officials

Nov 17, 2014 | Dalshad Abdullah, Asharq Al-Awsat

Erbil— The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will begin exporting oil through under Baghdad’s supervision once it receives a loan it says was promised from the…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Capital of Kurdish Iraq Goes from Backwater to Boomtown as It Fights to Achieve Independence

Nov 17, 2014 | Campbell MacDiarmid, National Post

Erbil, Kurdistan Region — The nucleus of the city is a citadel rising 30 metres above the plains. The height represents the accretion of eight…


Iraq: Battle Turning Against IS, Says US Gen Martin Dempsey

Nov 15, 2014 | BBC

America's top general has told US troops in Iraq that momentum is turning against Islamic State militants. Gen Martin Dempsey, on an unannounced visit, called…


DRC: Oil Dispute Takes a Page From Congo’s Bloody Past

Nov 15, 2014 | Jeffrey Gentlemen, New York Times

VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of Congo — The trouble started when a British company suddenly appeared in this iconic and spectacularly beautiful national park,…


Protected Areas Can Safeguard Global Biodiversity and Build Peace in Conflict Hotspots

Nov 14, 2014 | Phys Org

Today, the Conservation International (CI) Policy Center for Environment and Peace released five case study summaries that show that protected areas, through transparent and open…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Pushes Independent Oil Company Plan after $500m Deal with Iraq

Nov 14, 2014 | Middle East Eye

A preliminary deal between Baghdad and Iraq's Kurdish region to resolve long-running financial disputes over oil has reduced a threat to national unity, Iraq’s oil minister…


Sierra Leone: Ebola Wiping out Sierra Leone's Post-War Gains: Study

Nov 14, 2014 | AFP

Ebola-hit Sierra Leone faces social and economic disaster as gains made since the country's ruinous civil war are wiped out by the epidemic, according to…


China: Addressing Conflict Minerals – China Publishes ‘Groundbreaking’ Guidelines

Nov 14, 2014 | Heidi Vella, Mining Technology

In a bid to strengthen its commitment as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, last month, in an unprecedented move, a Chinese government-affiliated…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Producers in Iraqi Kurdistan Expect Export Payments This Month

Nov 13, 2014 | Reuters

Three of Iraqi Kurdistan's main oil producers said they expect payments this month from the regional government for oil exports, as they look set to…