International

OVL, Partners Weigh Sudan Government’s All-or-Nothing Offer

Jun 12, 2014 | Siddhartha P Saikia, The Financial Express

Despite the separation of South Sudan from the then unified Sudan in July 2011, a joint venture hydrocarbon project between state-run oil companies of India,…

Liberia: GVL Explains Greencon Draft

Jun 12, 2014 | AllAfrica

Golden Veroleum Liberia says it has started presenting its latest draft Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) to the people of Nitrain in Kpanyan, Sinoe County.

In…

Conflict Minerals: Cal Poly Student Proposes Ban on Electronics Using 'Conflict Minerals'

Jun 12, 2014 | Nick Wilson, The Tribune

A resolution proposed by a Cal Poly political science student hopes to prevent the university’s purchase of electronics made using “conflict minerals” that are mined…

Korea-Japan Electronics Company Coalition on Conflict Minerals Summary

Jun 11, 2014 | JEITA

In the conflict zone in the world, armed groups engage in inhumane acts against local residents, including gender-based violence, plundering, and use of child labor.…

New Push for Montara Oil Disaster Study

Jun 11, 2014 | Gabrielle Dunlevy, The Age

Indonesia's government has added its weight to a new push to make Canberra and the Thai company behind the Montara oil disaster survey for damage…

Forum Tackles Conflict Minerals Due Diligence Difficulties

Jun 11, 2014 | PCBDesign007

At the OECD-UN-ICGLR GoE Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, May 26-28 in Paris, IPC Director of Government Relations and Environmental Policy Fern Abrams spoke on…

Conflict Minerals Argument Over. Impossible? Over a Thousand Did It

Jun 11, 2014 | 3BL Media

If the SEC posted a filing deadline and no one filed, Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank would have been a failure. Instead, public companies provided a…

IPC Highlights Small Business Difficulties with Conflict Minerals Due Diligence at OECD Forum

Jun 11, 2014 | IPC Blog

At the OECD-UN-ICGLR GoE Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, May 26–28 in Paris, IPC Director of Government Relations and Environmental Policy Fern Abrams spoke…

Iraq's Insurgency and the Threat to Oil

Jun 11, 2014 | Keith Johnson, FP

Oil markets are finally rattling after militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took over a series of key Iraqi cities Tuesday…

Liberia: Liberia’s First Gold Mine on Track for March Start

Jun 11, 2014 | Natasha Odendaal, Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The inaugural gold pour from Liberia’s first commercial gold mine was on schedule for March 2015, Aim- and TSX-listed Aureus Mining said…

China/Japan: Japan Protests Chinese Flybys Over East China Sea

Jun 11, 2014 | Martin Fackler, The New York Times

TOKYO — Japan protested to Beijing on Wednesday after Chinese fighter jets flew within 100 feet of Japanese military planes in airspace claimed by both…

In Malakal, a Struggle to Survive in South Sudan's New Normal

Jun 10, 2014 | Mugume Davis Rwakaringi, Voice of America

MALAKAL — Matthew Chol Jok used to work as director general of a sanitation and environment company in Upper Nile state, in the northeast of…

Sierra Leone President Fires Deputy Over Mining

Jun 10, 2014 | AP

Sierra Leone's president fired his powerful chief of staff over how he negotiated a mining agreement and his granting of another company the right to…

US Law Has Helped Limit 'Conflict Minerals', Study Says

Jun 10, 2014 | Phys.Org

A US law, and end efforts by technology firms, has helped limit the use of "conflict minerals" from Africa for consumer electronics, according to a…

Upper Nile Governor Orders Sorghum Distribution in War-Affected Counties

Jun 9, 2014 | Radio Tamazuj

The governor of South Sudan’s Upper Nile state Simon Kun Puoc has recently issued a decision forming a committee headed by the state agriculture minister…

Liberia: Sime Darby Plans up to 100,000 Hectares of Oil Palm in Liberia

Jun 9, 2014 | Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Bernama) -- Multinational Conglomerate, Sime Darby Bhd, is planning to plant up to 100,000 hectares of oil palm in Liberia within…

Sudanese Conflict and the Interest of Foreign Countries

Jun 8, 2014 | Pavel Gusterin, ArabInform

Russia, which had an impact on the largest by territory African state, which was Sudan before the secession of South Sudan in 2011, lost its…

Myanmar: Thein Sein Rails Against Corruption and Global Warming

Jun 6, 2014 | Eleven

Corruption is more likely to destabilise Myanmar’s development than terrorism, President Thein Sein told a gathering in Nay Pyi Taw to mark World Environmental Day…

Myanmar: Displaced Thilawa Villagers Descend on Tokyo

Jun 6, 2014 | Zaw Zaw Hlaing, Democratic Voice of Burma

A group of residents living in Rangoon’s Thilawa have travelled to Tokyo to lodge a formal complaint to Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).

JICA is leading…

Conflict Minerals: Disclosures Put Conflict Minerals on Companies' Agenda

Jun 6, 2014 | David Nicklaus, STL Today

An African civil war isn’t usually a top-of-mind business concern for a St. Louis chemical company, but this week Sigma-Aldrich paid close attention to violence…

Conflict Minerals: Conflict Minerals Filings Show Common Thread: The Most Comprehensive Reports Used California-Based Supply Chain Intelligence Firm

Jun 6, 2014 | Broadway World

Dozens of companies filing some of the most comprehensive conflict minerals reports this week counted on a San Diego-area investigative data management firm to dig…

Libya: Libya’s Oil Output Drops Further

Jun 6, 2014 | Joe DeCapua, Voice of America

Libya has much of the world’s highest quality crude oil. But since the fall of long-time leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, production has been sporadic…

South Sudan: China Takes More Assertive Line in South Sudan Diplomacy

Jun 5, 2014 | Drazen Jorgic, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation

JUBA (Reuters) - China is swapping its reserved diplomacy for a hands-on approach to help resolve a more than five-month-old rebellion in South Sudan that…

Myanmar: Dozens of New Flora, Fauna Species in Myanmar

Jun 5, 2014 | Associated Press

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- A dragon fish with intricate, maze-like markings on every scale, a frog with rough, chocolate-colored skin and a ginger plant are…

Conflict Minerals: The Conflict Over Conflict-Free Minerals

Jun 5, 2014 | Ian King, Bloomberg Businessweek

Like most advanced chips these days, Intel’s (INTC) contain tantalum, gold, tin, and tungsten—elements that can be mined on the cheap in war-torn parts of…

Liberia: House Requests U.S.$700,000 Explanation

Jun 5, 2014 | Necus M. Andrews, AllAfrica

The House of Representatives has mandated its joint Committee on Public Accounts and Expenditure to investigate the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) to provide…

Myanmar: Land Rights Activist Murdered in Burma

Jun 5, 2014 | Moe Zaw, Voice of America

RANGOON — An opposition land rights activist in Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been shot and killed in a remote village in northern Shan…

Myanmar: Demolition of Riverside Squats Leaves Families Homeless

Jun 5, 2014 | Democratic Voice of Burma

Local authorities have demolished 50 huts belonging to squatters on the banks of the Irrawaddy in Mandalay Division.

The villagers had been forced onto higher ground by…

China/Philippines: Philippines Reports Chinese Ship Movement Around Disputed Reefs

Jun 5, 2014 | Floyd Whaley, The New York Times

MANILA — China is moving ships around disputed reefs in the South China Sea that could be used to reclaim land and build structures, President…

China/Philippines: China Refuses to Defend its South China Sea Claims to UN Court

Jun 4, 2014 | Bloomberg

China refused to defend its territorial claims in the South China Sea to a United Nations tribunal because it doesn’t recognize international arbitration of its…