International
Iraq/Islamic State: IS Militants Set Oil Wells on Fire to Hinder Iraqi Jets Reach Targets in Tal Afar
Aug 21, 2017
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Nehal Mostafa, Iraqi News
Islamic State militants set oil wells on fire to hinder military jets reach targets, according to the pro-government paramilitary troops. In a statement on Monday,…
Myanmar: Jade Exports Earnings Plummet Since Last Year
Aug 21, 2017
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Eleven
In the first four months of this fiscal year, jade export earnings reached US$24.8 million, down $85 million since the same period last year, according…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Kurds Might Put off Independence Vote in Return for Concessions from Baghdad: Official
Aug 20, 2017
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Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters
Iraq’s Kurds may consider the possibility of postponing a planned Sept. 25 referendum on independence in return for financial and political concessions from the central…
Afghanistan: Chinese Company Seeking Railway Revival to Invest in Afghan Marble Sector
Aug 20, 2017
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Abdul Haleem, Xinhua
A delegation of Qin Gen Industrial Company of China, headed by deputy general manager Li Yingjun, has met officials with Afghan Chamber of Commerce and…
Myanmar: FDA Charges 17 Water Factories
Aug 20, 2017
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Ei Thinzar Kyaw, Eleven
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Yangon said it had taken action against 17 "undisciplined" bottled water factories in Hlegu Township in two months…
Afghanistan: At Stake in US Military Efforts to Stabilize Afghanistan: At Least $3 Trillion in Natural Resources
Aug 19, 2017
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Mariam Amini, CNBC
Trump is seeking a military win in Afghanistan, but American efforts there may yet reap financial gains. Afghanistan possesses rare minerals crucial for industrial manufacturing,…
Iraq: ISIL's Smouldering Footprint in Qayyara
Aug 19, 2017
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Dorian Geiger, Al Jazeera
Qayyara had been a strategic stronghold for ISIL where oil was a crucial source of income. But torching the wells was also strategic. It offered…
Afghanistan: Improving Livelihoods for Afghan Women through Agricultural Credit
Aug 18, 2017
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Middle East North Africa Financial Network
USAID's Regional Agricultural Development Program-North (RADP-N), in partnership with Agricultural Credit Enhancement Phase-II project (ACE-II), hosted the Women's Agricultural Credit Shura in Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday…
Colombia: Colombia Declares 166 Municipalities Free of Landmines
Aug 18, 2017
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teleSUR
Authorities in Colombia have declared that 166 of the country’s municipalities are free of anti-personnel landmines, adding that 14 other municipalities are free of suspicion…
Afghanistan: USAID Hosts Women’s Agricultural Credit Shura in Mazar-E-Sharif to Improve Livelihoods for Afghan Women
Aug 17, 2017
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USAID
When it comes to accessing credit for women farmers and women-owned agriculture-related businesses, challenges have often forced these operations to close because of a lack…
DRC: Democratic Republic of Congo Grappling with Heavily Networked Armed Groups Funded by Gold Smuggling, Security Council Hears, as Expert Body Mourns Slain Members
Aug 17, 2017
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UN Security Council
Tremendous challenges were facing the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the dynamics of the conflict ever-changing, an illicit trade in artisanal gold funding increasingly fragmented…
Conflict Minerals: Companies Remain Committed to US Conflict Minerals Reporting
Aug 17, 2017
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Chemical Watch
Companies remain committed to conflict minerals due diligence, despite promises of relaxed enforcement of US reporting requirements, a recent study has found. The report, by…
FAO Welcomes UN Security Council Recognition of Conflict-Famine Link
Aug 17, 2017
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) welcomes the UN Security Council's recognition of conflict as a major cause of famine, and the call to…
Afghanistan: Ticket to Rot for Fruit Stranded without Flights in Afghanistan
Aug 16, 2017
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Sayed Sarwar and Hamid Shalizi, Reuters
Afghanistan's plans to fly shipments from southern fruit growers to India have gone awry, leaving tons of grapes and melons to rot as officials scramble…
South Sudan/Sudan: Khartoum Negotiating Teams Say Abyei is Sudanese Territory
Aug 16, 2017
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Sudan Tribune
Sudanese delegation for the talks on the Abyei area Monday said they will focus on the need for a peaceful coexistence between the communities there,…
Myanmar: Tatmadaw to Continue Clearing out Illegal Mines in Tanai and Hpakant
Aug 16, 2017
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Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times
The Tatmadaw needs to continue military operations in Tanai and Hpakant in Kachin State to bring peace, order and stability in the area and put…
Afghanistan: Improved Irrigation Canal to Benefit over 7,500 People in Taloqan
Aug 16, 2017
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Middel East North Africa Financial Network
Afghan authorities and the Afghan-German Cooperation signed a contract for the reparation and rehabilitation of the Gurg irrigation canal in Taloqan, Takhar's provincial capital on…
Myanmar: Serenity Amid Conflict at Myanmar’s Indawgyi Lake
Aug 16, 2017
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Hugh Scobie, Adelaide Review
Myanmar is a part of the world where poverty and wealth become very confusing — it suffers from the ‘resource curse’; abundant natural resources but…
Afghanistan: Indian Company Wins Tender to Construct CASA-1000 Power Project
Aug 15, 2017
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Haidarshah Omid, TOLOnews
Officials from the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) on Tuesday said construction of the 1000 Electricity Transmission and Trade Project for Central Asia and…
Myanmar: Sales at Myanmar’s Jade Expo Lower Than Last Year
Aug 15, 2017
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Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, Mining.com
Results from the 2017 Jade and Gems Emporium are 3 per cent lower than last year’s in terms of the amount of cash the event…
Colombia: Searching for an Alternative to Coca
Aug 14, 2017
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Camilo Mejia and Steven Cohen, BBC
In the remote region of Putumayo in southern Colombia, the economy depends almost entirely on one thing: coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine. Colombia's government…
Afghanistan: MAIL to Help Saffron Farmers with 500 Tons of Bulbs
Aug 14, 2017
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TOLOnews
According to MAIL officials, they will distribute 500 tons of saffron bulbs to farmers who will harvest up to eight tons of saffron this year.…
Afghanistan: Agriculture Safe Option to Strengthen Afghan Economy: FAO
Aug 14, 2017
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Pajhwok Afghan News
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says investment in Afghanistan’s agriculture ‘is the better and low risk option for strengthening the country’s economy…
DRC: Food Insecurity Soars in Conflict-Ridden Democratic Republic of Congo
Aug 14, 2017
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
Amid rising violence and displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 7.7 million people face acute hunger - a 30 percent increase over the…
Myanmar: Myanmar Elephant Killings Raise Fears of Extinction
Aug 14, 2017
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Coconuts Yangon
At least 30 elephants have been reported killed in Myanmar this year, according to a joint report by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna and Flora…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Kurds Stick to Independence Vote Despite US Request to Postpone It
Aug 12, 2017
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Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters
Iraq’s Kurds are sticking to a plan to hold an independence referendum on Sept. 25, despite a U.S. request to postpone it, a high-ranking Kurdish…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Can Generate 23,000 Megawatts of Hydroelectric Power
Aug 11, 2017
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Zarmina Mohammadi, TOLOnews
Afghanistan has the capacity of generating more than 23,000 megawatt of hydroelectric power from domestic resources, says President Ashraf Ghani’s advisor on infrastructure Humayoun Qayoumi.Under…
Myanmar: EIA Accuses MTE of Stepping back from Reform Commitments
Aug 11, 2017
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Su Phyo Win, Myanmar Times
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has hit out at the Myanma Timber Enterprise’s decision to hire service providers, and said that the risk of corruption…
Iraq: Iraq Should Boost Non-Oil Tax Revenue: IMF
Aug 11, 2017
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Mary Swire, Tax-News.com
Iraq should take advantage of the "large room" to increase non-oil tax revenue by broadening the tax base and modernizing tax and customs administration, the…
Iraq: No Country for Oil Men: Tracking Islamic State’s Oil Assets in Iraq
Aug 11, 2017
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Wim Zwijnenburg, Bellingcat
Now the so-called Islamic State (IS) has lost Mosul as their capital in Iraq, two isolated pockets remain where the terror group has control over…