International

Conflict Minerals: Debate in the European Parliament on the European Commission’s Conflict Minerals Proposal

Nov 6, 2014 | National Law Review

On November 6, the Committee on International Trade (INTA) of the European Parliament will have a first exchange of views on the proposal presented in…

Kenya: Kenyan Law Aimed at Luring Mining Giants Sparks ‘Resource Curse’ Fears

Nov 6, 2014 | Andrew Thompson, The Guardian

Community and human rights advocates in Kenya are wary of a new mining bill that is on the verge of being passed into law.

Kenya’s national…

Central African Republic: Gold, Diamonds Fuelling Conflict in Central African Republic U.N. Panel Says

Nov 5, 2014 | Reuters

Gold and diamond sales are being used to finance conflict in Central African Republic and United Nations peacekeepers should monitor mining sites to clamp down…

China/ South China Sea: Energy Potential in Disputed Waters

Nov 5, 2014 | New Strait Times

FOR the past several years, China has been throwing its weight around the South China Sea, a body of water studded with coral reefs that…

Myanmar and EU Discuss Forestry Cooperation

Nov 5, 2014 | Mizzima

The European Union and Myanmar’s Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry recently held discussions about how Myanmar can encourage sustainable management of the country's forests…

Timor-Leste: East Timor Kicks out Judges over ConocoPhillips Tax Fight

Nov 5, 2014 | Reuters

East Timor has ordered five foreign judges out of the country after a court ruled in favour of U.S. oil and gas producer ConocoPhillips in…

Deer with 'Vampire Fangs' Spotted for 1st Time in Decades

Nov 5, 2014 | Kelly Dickerson

An endangered deer with vampire-like fangs was spotted for the first time in nearly 60 years, in a remote forest in northeastern Afghanistan.

The fanged creature…

Sierra Leone: Ebola's Catastrophic Consequences on Sierra Leone’s Small-Scale Mining Sector

Nov 4, 2014 | The Guardian

Ebola is having catastrophic economic consequences for Sierra Leone, where the disease is running rampant.

The country, together with the two other Mano River Union states, Liberia…

Uganda: Catalyst or Curse? East Africa’s Oil and Gas Boom

Nov 4, 2014 | World Politics Review

As he delivers his lecture from the breezy, pink-hued classroom, Robert Rutaro is optimistic about Uganda’s future in oil.

An attorney with a master’s degree in…

Liberia: Equatorial Revises Down Oil Palm Planting Target Due To Ebola Virus

Nov 4, 2014 | Alliance News

Equatorial Palm Oil PLC Tuesday said there have been no instances of the Ebola virus at its operations in Liberia and the company continues to…

Iraq: Carrots to Kalashnikovs- The Dangers Faced by Oil Workers Abroad

Nov 4, 2014 | The Guardian

As international oil companies begin to restart full operations in Iraq despite the continuing threat of attacks by Islamic State (Isis), one lifelong oil worker…

Iraq: Iraqi Troops, ISIS in Heated Battle for Oil Refinery

Nov 4, 2014 | Al Iraqiya

 Iraqi troops advanced toward the northern Iraqi city of Beiji on Tuesday, exchanging heavy fire with militants from the Islamic State group, footage from a…

Iraq: The KRG to Cooperate with USA to Put an End to ISIS' Oil Smuggling

Nov 3, 2014 | Kurdish Globe

The Islamic State (formerly ISIS) has been exporting oil from Northern Iraq to finance its activities, thanks to a solid network of smugglers. The Kurdistan…

Russia/Ukraine: Russia Continues to Train and Equip Ukraine Rebels, NATO Official Says

Nov 3, 2014 | New York Times

Hundreds of Russian troops are still training and equipping separatists in Ukraine, NATO’s top military commander said Monday, activities that are heightening tensions with the West…

Iraq/ Syria: This Is How ISIS Smuggles Oil

Nov 3, 2014 | Buzzfeed

This town on the Turkish-Syrian border is covered in trash. Residents refuse to let any outsiders — even garbagemen — inside. What makes Besaslan more…

Iraq/ Kurdistan: Baghdad Blacklists Foreign Tankers

Nov 3, 2014 | Arabian Supply Chain

Iraq’s oil marketing agency has banned three foreign tankers from Iraqi ports, according to the Platts news service, citing market sources.

Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation…

Af-Pak 2014: Waste of the Environment

Nov 3, 2014 | Wazhma Fazli, Ghotei Safi and Abdur Razzaq 

Chronic air pollution, filthy water and mountains of garbage in cities are creating a pandemic of respiratory and water-borne diseases both sides of the Durand…

Conflict Minerals: Scotland Leading Way in Fight to Stop War, Slavery and Misery Powering our Technology

Nov 2, 2014 | Herald Scotland

Every time you switch on your mobile, power up your laptop or even switch on a light, you could unwittingly be fuelling slavery, civil wars…

South Sudan: China Plays Peacemaker in Africa

Nov 2, 2014 | Independent Online

The ‘Middle Kingdom’ has a new vision of the role it plays in Africa after meeting the South Sudanese rebels, writes Peter Fabricius.

The civil war…

Sudan/ South Sudan/ Abyei: WBeG’s Abyei Community Rejects Moves to Include Region in Sudan Elections

Nov 2, 2014 | Sudan Tribune

Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Abyei community have denounced provocative moves by Sudan’s election commission include the contested region in its upcoming election next year.

In a…

Iraq/Syria: Wanted - Experienced Oil Plant Manager, Pay £140,000 P.S....Send CV to ISIS: Jihadists Advertising for Skilled Professionals to Man Its Failing Oil Fields after String of Fatal Accidents

Nov 1, 2014 | Jack Crone, MailOnline

ISIS is on the  lookout for a skilled professional to manage its failing oil refineries and has  been using black-market agents to advertise the £140,000-a-year…

China/South China Sea: China’s Clandestine Submarine Caves Extend Xi’s Naval Reach

Oct 31, 2014 | David Tweed, Bloomberg

Beneath the surface of the South China Sea off the tropical Chinese resort island of Hainan, an underwater tunnel guides submarines into a lair reminiscent…

Somalia: Floods Threaten Somali Food Security

Oct 31, 2014 | Joe DaCapua, Voice of America

After a poor rainy season early this year, parts of southern Somalia now are being hit with severe floods. The rainy season that began in…

Papua New Guinea: Highway Opposed : Papua Separatist Leader

Oct 31, 2014 | Islands Business

PORT MORESBY, PNG ----Papua separatist leader of the 1970s Dame Josephine Abaijah has called on Papuans and like-thinking Papua New Guineans to rise in unity…

Conflict Minerals: Companies Need to Improve Conflict Minerals Disclosures

Oct 31, 2014 | Yin Wilczek, Corporate Counsel Weekly

Oct. 24 —  As companies prepare their second conflict minerals disclosures, the emphasis is on “more and better” processes, a consultant said Oct. 24.

That includes…

Iraq: Iraqi Army Inches towards Beiji Oil Refinery

Oct 31, 2014 | Al Jazeera

Iraqi security forces have advanced further into towns north of Baghdad in a new offensive to retake the country's biggest oil refinery from Islamic State…

Myanmar: Burma Farmers at Risk of Losing Land under Legal Shift: Think Tank

Oct 31, 2014 | Thin Lei Lwin, Irrawaddy

BANGKOK — Millions of small-scale farmers in Burma risk losing land under proposals to regulate land use which focus too much on investment and not…

Russia/Ukraine: With Political Rift Still Deep, Russia-Ukraine Gas Deal Is Widely Seen as a Patch

Oct 31, 2014 | New York Times

A deal struck on Thursday to restart Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine will keep homes heated this winter, but it does not fully settle a fierce, long-running fight…

Land Grabbing: Report: 93 Percent of Mining, Oil & Gas, Logging, Agriculture Developments Involve Inhabited Land

Oct 30, 2014 | Burness Communications

LIMA, PERU — In an analysis of almost 73,000 concessions in eight tropical forested countries, more than 93 percent of these developments were found to…

Central African Republic: CAR Food Security Hard Hit

Oct 30, 2014 | Joe DeCapua, Voice of America

Violence in Central African Republic has taken a heavy toll on food security. A new U.N. assessment says crops, livestock and fishing have all been…