International
Myanmar: Extractive Industries Aggravating Local Conflicts, Ethnic Researchers Warn
Oct 25, 2017
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Hein Ko Soe, Frontier Myanmar
Ethnic minority researchers have called on the government to halt and review planned natural resource extraction projects in minority areas to avoid further conflicts with…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Paramilitaries Battle Kurds in Push Towards Turkish Border Oil Hub
Oct 25, 2017
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Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters
Iraqi pro-government paramilitaries launched an offensive against Kurdish troops on Tuesday near the Turkish frontier, pushing towards a strategic border crossing and oil export pipeline…
Colombia: Deadly Clashes as Colombia Destroys Coca Crops
Oct 25, 2017
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Alessandro Rampietti, Al Jazeera
The cultivation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, is booming once again in Colombia. The government is trying to slash production by employing hundreds…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Fear of Iranian General Left Iraqi Kurdish Oil Fields Deserted
Oct 25, 2017
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Ahmed Rasheed and Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters
Major-General Soleimani, one of the most influential military figures in the Middle East, with reach in Syria and Lebanon, issued tough warnings to Kurdish leaders…
Afghanistan: Insecurity Negatively Impacts Agriculture in Villages
Oct 25, 2017
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Zabihullah Ihsas, Pajhwok Afghan News
Insecurity and the conflict have a negative impact on the agriculture in villages where production has affected. These views were expressed by government officials and…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Works with Kurdish Company to Help Restart Two Oil Fields
Oct 25, 2017
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Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg
Iraq’s North Oil Co. is working with the Kurdish Kar Group to resume pumping at two disputed oil fields that halted output after government troops…
Colombia: With New Peace, Colombia Finds Hope for Saving Its Wild Lands
Oct 25, 2017
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Lisa Palmer, Yale Environment 360
After a half-century of conflict, Colombia is regaining control of vast biologically rich areas that had been havens for rebel groups. Now, scientists are racing…
Sudan: Curfew in South Kordofan Town after Protests against the Use of Cyanide
Oct 24, 2017
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Radio Dabanga
Authorities in South Kordofan declared the State of Emergency in Kologi on Friday. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a listener reported from Kologi that the locality…
Afghanistan: Afghan Opium Production Reaches Record High
Oct 24, 2017
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Voice of America
Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer of opium, has harvested a record crop this year that more than doubled last year’s production, a bad omen for…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish-Led Forces Retake Largest Oil Field from Islamic State in Eastern Syria
Oct 23, 2017
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Hisham Arafat, Kurdistan 24
The US-backed Syrian Kurdish-Arab alliance on Sunday claimed to have seized Syria’s largest oil field from the Islamic State (IS) in Deir al-Zor province. In…
Myanmar: Yangon Factories Told to Treat Water or Else
Oct 23, 2017
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Myat Moe Aung, Myanmar Times
The government warned factories to treat their wastewater properly before disposing it into rivers or face penalties, including closure of their facilities. In Yangon Region’s 24…
Myanmar: Returning Rohingya May Lose Land, Crops under Myanmar Plans
Oct 22, 2017
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Simon Lewis, Thu Thu Aung, and Kyaw Soe Oo, Reuters
Rohingya Muslims who return to Myanmar after fleeing to Bangladesh are unlikely to be able to reclaim their land, and may find their crops have…
Colombia: Exploration Projects in Colombia Face Increasing Uncertainty as Another Town Votes against Mining
Oct 22, 2017
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Manuel Rueda, Finance Colombia
It was the first Sunday of October in Colombia, and Sucre, population 7,000, had just held a special referendum in which residents were asked if…
Colombia: Colombians Have for Years Grown Amazing Coffee. Finally, They’re Drinking It.
Oct 22, 2017
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Anthony Faiola, Washington Post
Globalization is changing that — specifically a wave of well-traveled Colombian entrepreneurs who, along with a number of foreign investors, are upping the quality of…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Increases Oil Exports from South by 200,000 bpd to Make up for Kirkuk Fields Shortfall
Oct 21, 2017
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Reuters
Iraq increased on Saturday oil exports from the southern Basra region by 200,000 barrels per day, to make up for a shortfall from the northern…
Afghanistan: Agriculture Fair Held in Afghanistan to Promote Production, Investment
Oct 20, 2017
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Farid Behbud, Xinhua
Hundreds of people have visited the agriculture fair held at Badam Bagh, the biggest agricultural products and handicrafts farm in the Afghan capital. The farm, with…
Iraq/Kurdistan/Russia: Russia's Rosneft to Take Controlling Stake of Iraqi Kurdish Oil Pipeline
Oct 20, 2017
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company says it has agreed with the government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to take a controlling stake in the region's…
Myanmar: Five Dead after Myanmar Police Clash with Jade Scavengers
Oct 20, 2017
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Agence France-Presse
At least five people were killed and 20 injured after Myanmar police opened fire on an armed mob of jade seekers that tried to enter…
Colombia: Peace Gives Colombian Coffee an Extra Shot
Oct 19, 2017
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Marcy Nicholson, Retuers
Farmers who fled war in the Colombian Andes are returning to revive their abandoned land, cultivating coffee trees that are boosting global supplies of the…
Iraq: Iraq Oil Ministry Warns Oil Companies against Kurdistan Contracts
Oct 19, 2017
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Reuters
Iraq’s oil ministry on Thursday cautioned oil companies against signing contracts with Iraqi Kurdistan. On Wednesday Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft signed an agreement to put…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Oil Exports via Turkey Dwindle as Kirkuk Fields Stay Shut
Oct 19, 2017
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Khalid Al Ansary, Julian Lee, and Elena Mazneva, Bloomberg
Crude exports from northern Iraq fell again, and output remained curtailed in the nation’s disputed Kirkuk province. Oil Ministry engineers worked to replace computers and other…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Turmoil Threatens Billions in Oil Traders' Kurd Deals
Oct 18, 2017
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Javier Blas, Bloomberg
The crisis unfolding around the Iraqi city of Kirkuk has left some of the world’s largest commodity trading houses worried the country’s autonomous Kurdish region…
Somalia: Grim Milestone: Somalia Drought and Conflict Forces One Million People to Flee
Oct 18, 2017
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Norwegian Refugee Council
Dry rural communities across Somalia have nearly turned into ghost towns, as crops failed, livestock died and families fled in droves after they ran out…
Sudan: AfDB Commits to Help Sudan Build Resilience and Tackle Fragility
Oct 18, 2017
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African Development Bank
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) on Wednesday, 18 October 2017 approved Sudan’s Country Brief 2017-2019, designed to help the…
Myanmar: EITI Report to Include Forest Sector
Oct 17, 2017
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Myat Moe Aung, Myanmar Times
The forest sector will be covered independently in a report for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) this year, said an official of the forestry department…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Forces Retake All Oil Fields in Disputed Areas as Kurds Retreat
Oct 17, 2017
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David Zucchino, New York Times
Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq surrendered all disputed oil fields to Iraq’s military on Tuesday, retreating in the face of overwhelming force that appeared to halt,…
Liberia: Ellen Relaxes Regulatory Mandates
Oct 17, 2017
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New Dawn
President Ellen Johnson - Sirleaf has issued Executive Order No. 89, instituting policy measures to stimulate economic growth by reducing administrative and business process requirements…
Sierra Leone: Egg-Sized Diamond for Sale: Proceeds to Benefit Sierra Leone's Poorest
Oct 17, 2017
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Nellie Peyton, Reuters
Sierra Leone will auction one of the world’s largest diamonds to fund development projects in the impoverished community where it was found, the group managing…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Takes Oil Fields from the Kurds, but the Conflict Still Threatens Crude Flows
Oct 17, 2017
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Tom DiChristopher, CNBC
The Iraqi national army swiftly took control of oil fields in disputed territory on Monday and Tuesday, largely avoiding clashes with Kurdish forces, news reports…
South Sudan: South Sudan's First Dedicated Oil and Gas Receives Mixed Response
Oct 16, 2017
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Oil Review Africa
Reuters reported that the conference failed to attract prospective investors from the biggest global energy companies. However, smaller companies turned out to learn more about…