International
Myanmar: Colorful Fields in Shan State Signal Another Bumper Opium Crop
Nov 13, 2014
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Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy
PEKHON TOWNSHIP, Shan State — In west-Padaung, a hilly region located on the border of Shan and Karenni states, farmers are hard at work in…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq and Kurds Reach Deal on Oil Exports and Budget Payments
Nov 13, 2014
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Ben Hubbard, New York Times
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s central government and the autonomous region of Kurdistan reached an interim agreement on Thursday over oil exports and budget payments, at least…
Iraq: Iraq Losing Billions In Oil Revenues To IS
Nov 12, 2014
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Radio Free Europe Radio Library
Iraq’s Oil Ministry has said that the country is losing as much as $1.2 billion a month in oil revenues as a result of Islamic State…
Myanmar: Land Disputes Leading Cause of Human Rights Complaints
Nov 12, 2014
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Nobel Zaw, The Irrawaddy
RANGOON — The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) has said that nearly 45 percent of the total complaints it has received this year stem…
Liberia: As Ebola Takes Lives in Liberia, It Leaves Hunger in Its Wake
Nov 12, 2014
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Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post
FOYA, Liberia — The Ebola virus, which has killed more than 2,830 Liberians and collapsed the country’s health-care system, is also attacking Liberia’s food supply,…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Baghdad and Kurds, Under Pressure, Reach Deal on Oil
Nov 12, 2014
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Sarah Kent, Wall Street Journal
The governments of Iraq and its semiautonomous region of Kurdistan reached an interim accord to ease long-standing tensions over Kurdish oil exports, both sides said…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan exporting oil from disputed fields
Nov 11, 2014
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Ben Van Heuvelen, Iraq Oil Report
Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is now exporting oil from fields it recently seized from federal authorities - a step that takes Kurdistan much…
Land grabbing: H&M Says Seeks to Ensure Cotton Does Not Come from Disputed Land
Nov 11, 2014
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Reuters
Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST), the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Tuesday that it made every effort to ensure its cotton did not come from…
Conflict minerals: Were Your Solar Panels Made With Conflict Minerals?
Nov 11, 2014
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Todd Woody, TakePart
So you just put solar panels on your roof and can pat yourself on the back for doing the clean, green thing, right?
Not quite.
While solar…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China, Vietnam Willing to Handle Maritime Issues Through Dialogue
Nov 10, 2014
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Reuters
China and Vietnam have agreed to handle maritime disputes through dialogue, Chinese state media reported on Monday, months after ties between the two countries hit…
Liberia: Liberia Braces for Next National Crisis: A Crude Oil Boom
Nov 10, 2014
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Peter Green, The Street
Forget Ebola. The next big thing to come out of Liberia may be crude oil. Since 2010, the government has awarded exploration rights for eight offshore blocks to…
South Asia: The Specter of Water Wars in South Asia
Nov 10, 2014
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Seema Sengupta, Arab News
Maj. Gen. Muniruzzaman, a renowned Bangladeshi security expert had predicted sometime ago that “if ever there were a localized conflict in South Asia, it will…
Myanmar: New Model Land Contract to ‘Help Prevent Land Grabs’
Nov 10, 2014
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Mizzima
A Canada-based international public policy research institute for sustainable development has come up with a “model contract” to protect land owners and users in developing…
Conflict Minerals: Trade MEPs Call for More Clarity About EU Plans on Conflict Minerals
Nov 10, 2014
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Metal Bulletin
European Commission proposals for voluntary self-certification by European companies importing tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold from "conflict and high risk" regions have been branded too…
Myanmar: Domestic Issues Blamed on Chinese Failure to Block Illegal Timber Trade
Nov 9, 2014
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Eleven
China is failing to control the illegal timber trade despite repeated requests from Myanmar, said the Union Minister of Environmental Conservation and Forestry Win Tun.Fear…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Baghdad Asks for Kurdish Oil Revenue from Turkey
Nov 9, 2014
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Hemin Salih, BasNews
The federal government of Iraq has asked Turkey for Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) oil revenues, currently deposited in the Turkish Halk Bank.
A reliable source has…
Iraq: ISIS Sells Stolen Kirkuk Oil at $20 Per Barrel - Iraq Finance Ministry
Nov 9, 2014
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RT
Islamic State militants, who have seized oil fields and refineries in Kirkuk province in the north of Iraq, are selling the hijacked oil on the…
Middle East: Water Wars Endanger Middle East Environment
Nov 9, 2014
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Nabil al-Samman, Al-Monitor
The idea of a so-called "water war" in the Arab world is linked to fears that there could be an armed conflict over control of…
Viet Nam/South China Sea: Vietnam to Build Big Oil Rigs
Nov 8, 2014
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Dat Viet, VietnamNet
The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), Vietsovpetro (the main investor) and PV Shipyard in October held a keel laying ceremony for the Tam…
Iraq Kurdistan Exported $3bn Worth of Oil in 2014
Nov 8, 2014
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PressTV
Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has exported nearly three billion dollars worth of oil to southern Turkey since the beginning of 2014 despite Baghdad calling such…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Thanks to IS, Iraqi Kurdistan Sees Oil Revenues Rise by 60%
Nov 8, 2014
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Voltaire Network
Since the beginning of the crisis in Iraq four months ago, that is to say since the invasion of a part Iraq, prearranged between the…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Envoy Says His Nation in Talks with Kurdistan over Oil on Tanker (subscription)
Nov 7, 2014
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Rhiannon Myers, Houston Chronicle
With falling oil prices stripping Kurdistan and Iraq of needed cash to fend off attacks from extremist militants, Iraq's ambassador to the United States said…
Iraq: Iraq Army Regains Full Control of Baiji Oil Refinery
Nov 7, 2014
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PressTV
Iraqi troops have retaken full control of the country’s biggest oil refinery on the outskirt of the northern town of Baiji in Salahuddin Province, Iraqi…
Water Wars: Water Crises Drying Seas, ‘Hydro-Diplomacy’ Needed: UN
Nov 7, 2014
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Randall Hackley, Bloomberg
Water crises are drying seas and creating a more urgent need for “hydro-diplomacy” to help avert conflict over shared rivers and lakes, the United Nations’…
China/ South China Sea: CNOOC Puts Second Deep-Water Rig into Use
Nov 6, 2014
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E China News
CNOOC Group Ltd, China's largest offshore oil and gas developer, announced on Wednesday that its semi-submersible drilling rig Nanhai Jiu Hao completed the first deep-water exploration well…
China/ India: China and India's Next Rivalry- Energy
Nov 6, 2014
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Huffington Post
With two of the fastest growing economies in the world, India and China are racing towards securing resources they need to sustain their economic growth.…
Myanmar: NGOs Say Ethnic Areas Have No ‘Virgin Lands’
Nov 6, 2014
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DVB News
The Ethnic Community Development Forum (ECDF) released a statement on Thursday which slammed Burma’s draft National Land Use Policy for failing to protect small-scale farmers…
Iraq/ Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan Close to Economic Independence, Says Oil Minister
Nov 6, 2014
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Rudaw
The Iraqi Kurds are within sight of economic if not political independence with oil exports expected to rise to 500,000 barrels a day by early…
Syria: Syrian Army Regains Control of Oil Wells Captured by Islamic State
Nov 6, 2014
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Middle East Monitor
The Syrian army regained control on Wednesday over two important oil wells that had been seized recently by the Islamic State (ISIS), according to the…
Egypt: Analysis - Why Ethiopia and Egypt Aren't Fighting a Water War
Nov 6, 2014
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allAfrica
There were times last year, when the rhetoric in Cairo reached fever pitch, that some kind of conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt over the waters…