News
Conflict Minerals: Federal Appeals Court to Reconsider Conflict Minerals Rule
Nov 18, 2014
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Tim Devaney, The Hill
U.S. companies may be required after all to disclose whether their products are manufactured with "conflict minerals" from war-torn parts of Africa, a federal appeals…
South Sudan: S Sudan Minister Says Cleaning Up Damage to Oil Fields
Nov 18, 2014
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Radio Tamazuj
South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum and Mining Stephen Dhieu Dau says that the government is now cleaning up damages caused during recent fighting between SPLA-IO…
Central African Republic: Central African Republic New ‘Blood Diamond’ Hub
Nov 18, 2014
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Martin Creamer, Mining Weekly
The dysfunctional Central African Republic (CAR) has taken over as the country where “blood diamond” activity is again rife.
Diamonds worth $24-million have been smuggled out…
Liberia: Oil Bid Round 'Transparent' - Nocal Replies Global Witness
Nov 18, 2014
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AllAfrica
Monrovia — Aletha Sherman, the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for the National Oil Company of Liberia says the Bid Round team has worked…
Myanmar: Villagers to Protest Over Grisly Death of Kachin Jade Picker
Nov 18, 2014
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Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy
RANGOON — Hundreds of villagers will protest this week after a jade scavenger was allegedly murdered and mutilated in Hpakant, a resource-rich area in northern…
China/Myanmar: Myanmar-China Border Dispute a Matter for Foreign Ministry Say Shan State Government
Nov 18, 2014
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Kyel Pyar, Mizzima
The Shan State government says the Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs should handle a border dispute concerning three villages now occupied by Chinese citizens but…
Liberia: Chief Karwor Requests Land for Post-Ebola Farming
Nov 18, 2014
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Johnson Bobby Liway, AllAfrica
The Chairman of the National Traditional Council of Liberia, Chief Zanzan Karwor, is urging the Ministry of Internal Affairs to request local officials in each…
Iraq: Iraq’s Biggest Oil Plant to Reopen After Militants Moved
Nov 18, 2014
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Kadhim Ajrash and Khalid Al-Ansary, Businessweek
Iraq’s biggest oil refinery at Baiji is set to restart processing in about three months after government troops forced Islamic State armed militants away from…
South Sudan: South Sudan Govt Claims Full Control of Oilfields
Nov 18, 2014
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Star Africa
South Sudan has announced that it is in full control of the oilfields in the troubled Unity State, the scene of fighting between government troops…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan to Begin Exporting Oil Through SOMO After Loan from Baghdad: KRG Officials
Nov 17, 2014
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Dalshad Abdullah, Asharq Al-Awsat
Erbil— The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will begin exporting oil through under Baghdad’s supervision once it receives a loan it says was promised from the…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Capital of Kurdish Iraq Goes from Backwater to Boomtown as It Fights to Achieve Independence
Nov 17, 2014
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Campbell MacDiarmid, National Post
Erbil, Kurdistan Region — The nucleus of the city is a citadel rising 30 metres above the plains. The height represents the accretion of eight…
Europe Is Dragging Its Feet on Conflict Minerals
Nov 16, 2014
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Huffington Post
Don't ask, don't tell. This is the deal consumers have long been offered by companies in exchange for cheaper clothes, cheaper food, and cheaper gadgets.…
Iraqi-Kurdish Oil Deal Falls Short of Solutions
Nov 16, 2014
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The Telegraph
Goran Mohammed had just completed his second year of university in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil when he dropped out to help his father…
Iraq: Battle Turning Against IS, Says US Gen Martin Dempsey
Nov 15, 2014
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BBC
America's top general has told US troops in Iraq that momentum is turning against Islamic State militants. Gen Martin Dempsey, on an unannounced visit, called…
DRC: Oil Dispute Takes a Page From Congo’s Bloody Past
Nov 15, 2014
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Jeffrey Gentlemen, New York Times
VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of Congo — The trouble started when a British company suddenly appeared in this iconic and spectacularly beautiful national park,…
Protected Areas Can Safeguard Global Biodiversity and Build Peace in Conflict Hotspots
Nov 14, 2014
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Phys Org
Today, the Conservation International (CI) Policy Center for Environment and Peace released five case study summaries that show that protected areas, through transparent and open…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Pushes Independent Oil Company Plan after $500m Deal with Iraq
Nov 14, 2014
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Middle East Eye
A preliminary deal between Baghdad and Iraq's Kurdish region to resolve long-running financial disputes over oil has reduced a threat to national unity, Iraq’s oil minister…
Sierra Leone: Ebola Wiping out Sierra Leone's Post-War Gains: Study
Nov 14, 2014
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AFP
Ebola-hit Sierra Leone faces social and economic disaster as gains made since the country's ruinous civil war are wiped out by the epidemic, according to…
China: Addressing Conflict Minerals – China Publishes ‘Groundbreaking’ Guidelines
Nov 14, 2014
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Heidi Vella, Mining Technology
In a bid to strengthen its commitment as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, last month, in an unprecedented move, a Chinese government-affiliated…
Cal Poly Passes Conflict Minerals Resolution
Nov 13, 2014
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Enough Project
On May 20th, 2014, the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) Academic Senate passed a conflict minerals resolution, making Cal Poly the 17th school to go conflict-free. Below…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Producers in Iraqi Kurdistan Expect Export Payments This Month
Nov 13, 2014
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Reuters
Three of Iraqi Kurdistan's main oil producers said they expect payments this month from the regional government for oil exports, as they look set to…
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…