International


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…


Sudan: Karti Urges China to Increase Investments in Sudan’s Non-Oil Sector

Aug 29, 2014 | Sudan Tribune

August 29, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign minister, Ali Karti, has called on Chinese officials to increase investments in the country’s non-oil sector, while expressing…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Loses Bid to Seize Kurdish Oil Near Texas

Aug 29, 2014 | Cameron Langford, Courthouse News Service

 HOUSTON (CN) - Refusing to let Iraq seize 1 million barrels of oil aboard a tanker in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge found…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Tanker with $100 Million Cargo Goes Missing off Texas Coast

Aug 29, 2014 | Terry Wade and Anna Louie Sussman, The Independent

An oil tanker loaded with $100 million of disputed Iraqi Kurdish crude has disappeared of the coast of Texas in the latest development in a…


Myanmar: Tenasserim to Allot Land for Refugees

Aug 28, 2014 | DVB Media

Government officials of Tenasserim Division [Tanintharyi Region] claimed that refugees residing in a camp in Thailand would soon be able to return to Burma as…


Myanmar: New $480m Solar Power Project Planned

Aug 28, 2014 | Reuters

U.S. investors will help finance a $480 million solar power project in Myanmar's northeastern Mandalay region, which will ultimately provide up to 12 percent of…


Myanmar: Land Prices Skyrocket after Unveiling of Rangoon Development Plan

Aug 28, 2014 | DVB Media

The announcement on Friday that Rangoon’s divisional parliament had approved a proposal to implement a city expansion plan has caused land prices to skyrocket overnight…


Iraq: Jihadists Burn Three Iraq Oil Wells as Kurds Attack

Aug 28, 2014 | AFP

Retreating jihadists set three wells ablaze at a northern Iraq oil field Thursday as they battled Kurdish forces who launched a major attack nearby, officials…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds Recapture Iraq Oil Fields, Advance on Rebel-Held Towns

Aug 28, 2014 | Bloomberg

Kurdish and Iraqi forces recaptured two oil fields and mounted an offensive to retake the town of Zummar, part of a broader bid to recover…


Sierra Leone: Golden Saint Reach Agreement Over Diamond Recovery in Sierra Leone

Aug 28, 2014 | London South East

Golden Saint Resources Ltd Thursday said four yellow stones have been discovered by its Sierra Leone subsidiary, Golden Saint Diamonds.

The company said four yellow stones…


Iraq: Iraq to Appeal US Court Decision on Kurdish Oil

Aug 28, 2014 | Reuters

The Iraqi oil ministry said on Aug. 28 it would challenge a U.S. court decision that stopped U.S. Marshals from seizing some one million barrels…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Solar Ambitions Kickstarted With $480 Million ACO Pact

Aug 28, 2014 | Cathy Chan, Bloomberg

Myanmar will expand its sources of clean energy through an agreement with ACO Investment Group, a U.S.-based private-equity fund focusing on Asian emerging markets, to…


Indonesia/ Timor Leste: State Firms to Set Up Joint Venture on Oil, Gas Development

Aug 27, 2014 | Global Post

Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina planned to establish a join venture company with Timor Leste's state company to develop oil and gas…


Iraq: Access to Oil Makes ‘Islamic State’ a Greater Threat than Al-Qaeda

Aug 27, 2014 | Investor Intel

Iran, the Arab States of the Persian Gulf region and North Africa discovered oil in the first half of the 20th century. They used the…


India/Pakistan: Skirmishes Put Feeling of Wartime on India-Pakistan Border

Aug 27, 2014 | Ellen Barry and Salman Masood, New York Times

JORA FARM, India —  The habits of wartime have crept back into life here along the border between India and Pakistan.In the mornings, villagers stitch…


India/ Pakistan: Fishermen Cross an Imperceptible Line into Enemy Waters

Aug 26, 2014 | The New York Times

Fishermen bustled through a ramshackle harbor, a knot of narrow streets and one-room houses on the edge of Karachi, as they prepared to set out…


Extractive Industries: UK Unveils Draft Rule on Extractive Industry Disclosure

Aug 26, 2014 | The Wall Street Journal

The U.K. unveiled draft rules on Thursday governing how oil, gas, mining and logging companies would disclose the payments they make to foreign governments for…


Iraq: Security Forces Repulse Militants' Attack on Baiji Oil Refinery

Aug 26, 2014 | ITAR-TASS News Agency

Iraq's security forces have managed to repulse an attack launched by militants of the Islamic State grouping on the country's largest oil refinery at Baiji,…


Iraq/ Syria: Islamic State Now Resembles the Taliban With Oil Fields

Aug 26, 2014 | Bloomberg

With its reign of terror over a large population and ability to self-finance on a staggering scale, the extremist group that beheaded American journalist James…


Palestine: Water Delivery Drivers Dice with Death in War-Torn Gaza

Aug 26, 2014 | Yahoo News

Mohammed al-Khatib fears for his life every time he gets behind the wheel. In wartime, providing drinking water to homes and schools in Gaza means…


South Sudan: Addressing Community Concerns Around Oil, Gas and Mining in South Sudan

Aug 26, 2014 | Cordaid

Cordaid and the Ministry are concerned with the plights of the communities impacted by oil extraction in South Sudan. Albeit endowed with significant reserves of…