International


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish Oil exports Mark 10 Million Barrels Despite Baghdad’s Woes

Sep 4, 2014 | Hurriyet Daily News

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said the total exports of Kurdish Iraqi oil through Turkey since May has reached 10 million barrels, amid ongoing…


Myanmar: Thai-Backed Power Plants in Burma Face ‘Difficulties’ Getting Coal

Sep 4, 2014 | William Boot, The Irrawaddy

Proposals by Thailand-based companies to build large coal-burning power plants in Burma might prove hard to implement because of logistical difficulties in delivering adequate fuel…


Myanmar: Tropical Log Prices Surge, Myanmar Export ban a Boon to Malaysia

Sep 4, 2014 | Jack Wong, The Star

KUCHING: Myanmar’s total log export ban that took effect five months ago has pushed up tropical log prices, benefiting major Sarawak timber companies.

According to Ta…


South Sudan: Food Security Update

Sep 4, 2014 | PR NewsWire, Star Africa

JUBA, South Sudan, 2 September 2014 / PRN Africa / —   Food insecurity remained severe in conflict affected areas of South Sudan,  with some 3.9…


China/East China Sea: China Deploys New Oil Rig to Drill in East China Sea

Sep 3, 2014 | South China Morning Post

China has sent a new oil rig to explore the East China Sea, an area that includes waters disputed with Japan. Cosco Shipyard, which built…


Myanmar: Land Grabbing Tops the List of Rights Violations

Sep 3, 2014 | Eleven Myanmar

The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission has received about 6,000 complaints since its inception in 2011, and most of them involve land confiscation by force.

“Most…


Iraq: EU Ambassador to Iraq Accuses European Countries of Purchasing Oil from Islamic State

Sep 3, 2014 | Middle East Monitor

The European Union Ambassador in Iraq, Jana Hybášková, has accused some European countries of purchasing oil from the Islamic State, or IS,Anadolu news agency reported.

Hybášková's…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Behind the Kurdish Oil Mystery: Cash, Power Grabs and the Battle for Statehood

Sep 3, 2014 | Nigel Wilson, International Business Times

When the oil tanker Kamari disappeared in the Mediterranean on 1 August, it was carrying around $100m (£60.7m, €76m) worth of crude from Iraq's semi-autonomous region of…


Central and East Africa: Food Security Alarm in Africa

Sep 2, 2014 | AllAfrica

Some 20 million people are facing acute food insecurity in eastern and central Africa, with most of them being at crisis and emergency levels, according…


Myanmar: 3,000 Farmers Petition Thein Sein Over Land Grab

Sep 2, 2014 | Eleven Myanmar

A petition calling for the return of 200,000 acres of land seized from farmers in Magway Region will be sent to President Thein Sein and…


Vietnam: Agent Orange Lives on in Vietnam, Poisoning Children and Ruining Lives

Sep 2, 2014 | The Advocacy Project

While Le Ba Thuan was recruiting soldiers for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, he would watch American planes spraying herbicide and try to…


Rwanda: Mining-Export Income Drops on Lower Tantalum Prices

Sep 1, 2014 | Bloomberg News

The value of Rwanda’s mineral exports dropped by almost a fifth in the first half of the year, even as the volume of sales rose, because…


Kurdish Oil Tanker that Disappeared from Radar off Texas Coast Reappears Days Later

Sep 1, 2014 | Daily Mail

An Iraqi oil tanker that disappeared from radar off the coast of Texas last week has suddenly reappeared today - and it's still full of…


Iraq/ Kurdistan: Battle for Mosul Dam- a New Age of Water Wars Beckons

Sep 1, 2014 | The Conversation

Exactly a year ago, the world was wrestling with the possibility of another US-led military assault on an Arab state, following the horrific gas attacks in Damascus,…


Myanmar: Second City Speculation Sees Land Prices Double

Sep 1, 2014 | The Myanmar Times

Though information on the project proposed by Mayor U Hla Myint is still scarce, it has proven enough to drive a flury of speculation in…


Myanmar: Cronies Set Their Sights on Coal in Latest Power Grab

Sep 1, 2014 | Eleven

Cronies have been granted hydropower projects on Ayeyawady and Thanlwin rivers, including the Myitsone dam, without public notice. Moreover, 23 firms – including companies owned by…


Myanmar: Over 1,000 in Mandalay Protest Mining Activities

Sep 1, 2014 | Democratic Voice of Burma

The mining sector in Burma continues to receive flak, with protestors taking to the streets in Wetthay and Phetshay villages in Thabeikkyin, Mandalay.

On 30 August,…


Israel/Palestine: Israel Seizes 400 Hectares of West Bank Land [Video]

Sep 1, 2014 | Al Jazeera

The United States has urged Israel to reverse its decision to seize nearly 400 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, a move anti-settlement…


Conflict Resources: The Key to Solving Both ISIS and Russian Aggression

Aug 31, 2014 | David Francis, Fiscal Times

The crises in Ukraine and Iraq have little to do with one another. In Ukraine, Russia is exerting its territorial ambitions, while in Iraq, the…


South Sudan: Sudan: Deadlock

Aug 31, 2014 | StrategyWorld

August 31, 2014:  As the South Sudan government and the South Sudan rebels (led by former vice-president Riek Machar) continue the civil war, Intergovernmental Authority…


Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone To Miss Diamond Export Target Due To Ebola Outbreak

Aug 31, 2014 | Albert Robinson, IDEX Online

Sierra Leone Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Abdul Ignosis Koroma said the government would miss its target of exporting $200 million in diamonds this year…


Israel/Palestine: Israel Claims Nearly 1,000 Acres of West Bank Land Near Bethlehem

Aug 31, 2014 | Isabel Kershner, New York Times

JERUSALEM —  Israel laid claim on Sunday to nearly 1,000 acres of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem — a step…


Timor-Leste: Australian Government Wants East Timor Spy Charged

Aug 31, 2014 | Sydney Morning Herald

The Australian government has asked the federal police to investigate if lawyer Bernard Collaery and a former spy can be charged with disclosing classified information after revelations Australia…


China/India: What Dispute? India and China Ignore Land Squabble

Aug 30, 2014 | Tim Sullivan, Associated Press / ABC News

For more than 50 years, it has pitted India against China — a smoldering dispute over who should control a swath of land larger than…


Iraq: Water Wars: The Islamic State and the Mosul Dam

Aug 29, 2014 | Archinect

Water has become a central focus for both the Islamic State and its combatants in the current struggle being waged over the large geographic area…


Afghanistan: NATO Urged to Recognise Natural Resource Governance as Crucial to Afghanistan’s Future Stability and Security

Aug 29, 2014 | Global Witness

NATO’s hopes for stability in Afghanistan – and a lasting legacy from its 11 year combat mission there – will be deeply undermined without action…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds Expand Autonomy as ISIS Reorders the Landscape

Aug 29, 2014 | Helene Cooper and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times

WASHINGTON —  The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has thrown Iraq into crisis, precipitated the ouster of Nuri Kamal al-Maliki as prime minister and…


Iraq: Chalabi Predicts Iraqi Oil Could Net IS up to $150 Million in 2014

Aug 29, 2014 | Nidal al Laythi, Al-Monitor

Former Iraqi Oil Minister Issam al-Chalabi said on Aug. 27 that estimates from  reliable reports confirm that the Islamic State (IS) would reap between $100-150 …


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan Oil Shipments Reach 8.8 Mln Barrels - Turkish Minister

Aug 29, 2014 | Reuters

ISTANBUL Aug 29 (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan has shipped 8.8 million barrels of oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan since May, Turkish Energy Minister…


Myanmar: No Quick Fix for Rangoon Land-Grab Victims: Govt

Aug 29, 2014 | Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy

RANGOON — Rangoon’s divisional government has said hundreds of land-grab cases brought to its attention will not be resolved by the end of its current…