International


Colombia: Crudo Derramado por las Farc en Putumayo Afectó 9 Humedales (Oil Spilled by the FARC in Putumayo in September Affected Wetlands)

Jun 10, 2015 | El Tiempo

Si el costo ambiental inmediato del derrame de 3.120 barriles de crudo en el Putumayo en la madrugada del lunes por presión de las Farc…


Iraq: Wheat-Importing Iraq Plans to Be Net Grain Exporter by 2017

Jun 10, 2015 | Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg

Iraq, a wheat-importing nation where flat bread is a staple, plans to become a net exporter of the grain within two years, government officials said.…


Liberia: Following Allotment of Huge Salaries to Executives, NOCAL Concedes Bankruptcy, Calls for Merger?

Jun 10, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, GNN Liberia

The National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) is said to be on the verge of collapse due to the departure of millions of dollars oil…


Tajikistan: Second President Says about Threat of Water Wars in Central Asia

Jun 10, 2015 | Azerbaijan Business Center

More and more leaders of Central Asian states support the forecast of Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan, on a threat of wars due to water…


China/Japan/East China Sea: Don’t Blame the Oil Rigs for Unrest in East China Sea

Jun 10, 2015 | Emily Meierding, Time

A year ago last month, China moved its oil drilling rig, the HD-981, into waters around the Paracel Islands. China’s exploratory drilling provoked a confrontation…


Myanmar: Myitkyina District Court Charges Chinese Timber Smugglers under Public Property Protection Act

Jun 10, 2015 | Eleven Myanmar

The court in Myitkyina District, Kachin State, charged 85 Chinese timber smugglers under the Public Property Protection Act. The law carries a sentence of at…


DRC: 'We Will Win Peace' - On 'Conflict Minerals', Humanitarian Advocacy and Congo

Jun 10, 2015 | African Arguments

In 2010, the United States Congress passed the expansive sounding ‘Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’. Its section 1502 contained a requirement which…


Israel/Jordan/Palestine: SIWI Advances Water Cooperation in the Lower Jordan River Valley

Jun 9, 2015 | Stockholm International Water Institute

In their opening remarks, EcoPeace Middle East Directors from Jordan, Palestine and Israel highlighted how the current ecological and economic demise of the valley is…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Warns Oil Output at Risk of Collapse on Lack of Funds

Jun 9, 2015 | Firat Kayakiran and Grant Smith, Bloomberg

Oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan will have to close operations if they don’t receive agreed export payments, according to the regional authorities.


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi, Kurdish Officials Clash over Oil Shipments, Payments

Jun 9, 2015 | Reuters

Iraq paid the autonomous Kurdistan region only around half its monthly share of the national budget in May as part of other spending cuts, the…


DRC: UK Oil Firm 'Paid Congolese Officer who Offered Bribe to Virunga Park Ranger'

Jun 9, 2015 | John Vidal, The Guardian

British oil company Soco International paid $42,000 (£27,000) to a Congolese military officer who allegedly tried to bribe opponents of its oil exploration in Africa’s…


Iraq: Iraq to Form Special 'Oil Army' to Fend off ISIL Threat

Jun 8, 2015 | Andrew Critchlow, The Telegraph

Iraq is mobilising a 27,000 strong army of security personnel to protect its oil and energy facilities from attacks by Islamic State insurgents. Adel Abdel…


Climate Security: Harper Faces Tough Talk on Climate Change, Security Threats at G7 Summit

Jun 7, 2015 | Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press

The G7 leaders started their annual meeting Sunday during which Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to face discussions on a topic he has been…


Iraq: Iraq’s Oil Industry Needs to Reassert its Claims

Jun 7, 2015 | Saadallah Al Fathi, Gulf News

The seminar held by the Iraqi Forum of Intellectuals and Academics - and which I talked about last week - had a good presentation about…


Liberia: Charges against Oil Company 'Bribery' Indictees Dropped

Jun 7, 2015 | Front Page Africa

Knowing that corruption was prevalent among public officials in government and the negative impact it has made on the lives of ordinary Liberians over the…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq’s Kurdistan Reports Record Oil Exports

Jun 6, 2015 | Press TV

The KRG has announced that nearly 18 million barrels of oil were exported in May. That’s about 578,000 barrels of oil per day. The rare…


South Sudan: South Sudan Fighting Escalates in Oil States Before Peace Talks

Jun 6, 2015 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

Fighting between rebels and government forces in South Sudan’s oil-producing states intensified, the army said before the two sides meet on Monday for peace talks.…


Conflict Minerals: Businesses Trying to Comply with 'Conflict Minerals' Law

Jun 5, 2015 | Carrie Wells, Baltimore Sun

The argument goes that using a smartphone made from materials mined in war-torn Africa is no better than buying so-called blood diamonds. Rebel groups in…


Cote d'Ivoire/Liberia: Land Conflict Still Brewing at Liberia/Ivorian Border: Fear Mounts

Jun 5, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, GNN Liberia

Continued land disputes between Liberia and Ivory Coast are still ongoing as Liberians in some towns in Grand Gedeh County say Ivorians are encroaching on…


Liberia: ‘FDA Management Ambushed’

Jun 5, 2015 | The New Dawn Liberia

The indicted former Managing Director of Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority or FDA, Mr. Moses Wogbeh, has told court proceeding that he and his co-indictees were…


Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste Presses Ahead with Challenge to Timor Sea Oil and Gas Treaty

Jun 5, 2015 | Daniel Hurst, The Guardian

Timor-Leste is set to resume a formal challenge against an oil and gas treaty that became mired in controversy following claims Australia bugged the cabinet…


Myanmar: CPI Pushes for Restart of Myitsone Dam

Jun 5, 2015 | Ye Mon and Clare Hammond, Myanmar Times

President U Thein Sein has suspended the Myitsone Dam project until the end of his current term. Once this is over, CPI Yunnan International Power…


Myanmar: Profits of Drug Trade Drive Economic Boom in Myanmar

Jun 5, 2015 | Thomas Fuller, New York Times

Visitors flying into this buzzing tropical metropolis step into a modern glass-and-steel airport that symbolizes both Myanmar’s aspirations to rejoin the wider world after years…


Liberia: Garbage Causes Flood in Monrovia

Jun 4, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, GNN Liberia

Improper garbage disposal by residents, meanly those engaged in swamp land development is said to have contributed to a wave of flooding in recent days…


Iraq: IS Reduces Water Supply to Government Areas in Iraq’s Anbar

Jun 4, 2015 | Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press

Islamic State militants have reduced the amount of water flowing to government-held areas in Iraq’s western Anbar province, officials said Thursday, a move that highlights…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Opens Spratlys to Tourism Amid Sea Dispute with China

Jun 4, 2015 | John Boudreau and Diep Pham, Bloomberg

Vietnam is inviting tourists to the front lines in its tense dispute with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea, organizing the country’s…


Myanmar: ‘Heated’ Debate Again Stymies New Mining Law

Jun 4, 2015 | Nyein Nyein, The Irrawaddy

Efforts to pass a controversial bill updating Burma’s 1994 Mining Law have been postponed once again, after debate on the legislation turned “heated” this week…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Agreement Central to Iraq's Unity in ISIS Fight May Be Crumbling

Jun 3, 2015 | Akbar Shahid Ahmed, Ibrahim Balkhy, and Christine Conetta, Huffington Post

A December 2014 oil agreement struck between Iraq's central government and the country's autonomous Kurdish region is in jeopardy and could soon need to be…


Timor-Leste: East Timor Revives Attempt to Have Greater Sunrise Treaty Declared Invalid Amid Spying Allegations

Jun 3, 2015 | Sara Everingham, ABC News

East Timor is reviving its attempt to nullify a multi-billion-dollar oil and gas treaty with Australia on the grounds Australia spied on Timorese officials during…


China/Philippines/South China Sea: Philippine President Makes Veiled Comparison between Beijing and Nazi Germany

Jun 3, 2015 | ABC News

Philippine president Benigno Aquino has made a veiled comparison between China's activities in the South China Sea and Nazi Germany's expansionism before World War II.…