International


Liberia: LEITI Enhances Submission of Payment and Revenue Data

Nov 27, 2017 | FrontPageAfrica

The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) over the weekend conducted a one-day technical workshop on the submission of payment and revenue data for the…


Nigeria/South Sudan: Mini-Refineries as Model for Meeting Nigeria, South Sudan Oil Demands

Nov 27, 2017 | Victor Gbonegun, Guardian

The importance of petroleum refinery especially for a country like Nigeria, which is heavily endowed with crude oil, cannot be over-emphasized. In fact, its significance…


Afghanistan: Afghan Farmers Revive Olive Gardens to Replace Opium Poppies

Nov 27, 2017 | Abdul Haleem, Xinhua

In Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province where many farmers are still growing opium poppies and producing drugs, some have dared to revive the war-damaged olive gardens…


Afghanistan: Ghani Assigns Team to Find New Markets for Afghan Pine Nuts

Nov 27, 2017 | Syed Zabiullah Langari, TOLOnews

Presiding over a meeting of High Economic Council on Sunday, President Ashraf Ghani assigned a team to work on ways that could help to enhance…


Iraq: Iraq Offers Nine Oil and Gas Blocks for Exploration Near Iran, Kuwait Borders

Nov 26, 2017 | Reuters

Iraq will invite foreign energy firms to bid for the exploration and development of nine new oil and gas blocks bordering Iran and Kuwait, the…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: A Defiant Map-Hunter Stakes Vietnam’s Claims in the South China Sea

Nov 25, 2017 | Mike Ives, New York Times

Eight years ago, officials in Danang asked Tran Duc Anh Son to travel the world in search of documents and maps that support Vietnam’s territorial…


Iraq/Kurdistan/Turkey: Report: Turkey's PM Praises Iraqi Court Ruling on Kurdistan Referendum

Nov 25, 2017 | Rudaw

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has praised the cancellation of Kurdistan's independence vote by Iraq's Federal Court. The Turkish premier spoke by phone with his…


Afghanistan: Aino Mina Project Was Built Legally: Karzai

Nov 25, 2017 | Karim Amini, TOLOnews

A day after a presidential decree on assessment of Aino Mina Township in Kandahar was leaked to media, founder of the township, Mahmoud Karzai, said…


Uganda: Naked Force Meets Naked Resistance in Northern Uganda Land Conflict

Nov 24, 2017 | Liam Taylor, Thomson Reuters Foundation

When a government minister visited a remote part of northern Uganda earlier this year, she was greeted with a sit-down protest, indignant politicians and topless…


Colombia: Celsia Makes Pact with Indigenous Peoples over 100MW Colombia Solar Project

Nov 24, 2017 | Tom Kenning, PV-Tech

Celsia, the energy arm of Colombian conglomerate Grupo Argos, has moved forward with its development of a 100MW solar farm in Colombia by reaching an…


Saudi Arabia/Qatar: OPEC Chatroom Dead as Qatar Crisis Hurts Gulf Oil Cooperation

Nov 23, 2017 | Rania El Gamal and Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters

As a six-month-old spat between Saudi Arabia and Qatar deepens, the organization’s Gulf ministers will have to scrap their tradition of meeting behind closed doors…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Oil Exports on Rise, but Below Original Output Levels: Source

Nov 23, 2017 | Karzan Sulaivany, Kurdistan 24

Oil flows in Kurdistan are on the rise despite sanctions imposed by Baghdad after the Region’s vote for secession, but still remain below their original…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: Manual to Help Resolve Issues between Pakistan, Afghanistan Proposed

Nov 23, 2017 | Mushtaq Ghumman, Business Recorder

Participants of a panel discussion on Wednesday proposed that a manual should be developed to resolve issues including water sharing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Giving…


Myanmar: MIC Suspends New Investments in Timber Businesses

Nov 23, 2017 | Htin Lynn Aung, Myanmar Times

Permission for to start new timber-based businesses will be temporarily suspended in Myanmar, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) said in a November 16 statement, which…


Afghanistan: US Strikes on Taliban Opium Labs Won't Work, say Afghan Farmers

Nov 23, 2017 | Mohammad Stanekza and Girish Gupta, Reuters

As U.S. and Afghan forces pound Taliban drug factories this week, farmers in the country’s largest opium producing-province and narcotics experts say the strategy just…


Liberia: Environmental Protection Agency Conducts Validation Training on Fuel Efficiency

Nov 22, 2017 | Gerald C. Koinyeneh, FrontPageAfrica

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia with support from the United Nations Environment Program has ended a two day validation workshop on fuel efficiency…


US Government Releases First US Global Water Strategy

Nov 22, 2017 | WaterWorld

The U.S. Government recently released its U.S. Global Water Strategy to address the challenges of the global water crisis that may increase disease, undermine economic…


Colombia: In Post-Conflict Colombia, Land-Rights and Funding for Peacebuilding Face off

Nov 22, 2017 | Taran Volckhausen, Christian Science Monitor

In 2016 – and in a series of similar rulings since – Colombia’s highest court struck down a 2001 mining law that granted the national…


Iraq/Kuwait: Iraq Looks to Kuwait Gas Pipeline to Pay off Reparations

Nov 22, 2017 | Rania El Gamal, Osamu Tsukimori and Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters

Kuwait’s oil ministry did not respond to a request for immediate comment. Oil minister Issam Al-Marzouq said last month that talks between Kuwait and Iraq…


Colombia: Colombia's Coffee Output, Exports to Hit 25-Year High

Nov 21, 2017 | Mike Verdin, Agrimoney

Colombia’s recovery in coffee output, and exports, will progress faster than had been thought this season, US officials said – but on an assumption of…


Iraq/Kurdistan/Turkey: Iraq Reviews Kirkuk Oil Exports with Turkey

Nov 21, 2017 | Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International

Getting oil flowing again from the fields in Kirkuk in northern Iraq to a Turkish sea port is the first order of business, the Iraqi…


Iraq/Kuwait: Iraq to Resume Oil Reparations to Kuwait for Gulf War Devastation, Says UN

Nov 21, 2017 | Lewis Sanders IV, Deutsche Welle

The UN Security Council's compensation agency has announced Baghdad's desire to settle war reparations by 2021. Iraq had suspended compensation payments following the rise of…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Economy Slowly on Rise, to Grow 2.6 Percent This Year - World Bank

Nov 21, 2017 | Girish Gupta, Reuters

Afghanistan’s economy is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year, up slightly from the previous year despite deteriorating security, the World Bank said in a…


Afghanistan: The US Begins Bombing Taliban Drug Labs as Trump’s Afghanistan Strategy Takes Hold

Nov 20, 2017 | Dan Lamonthe, Washington Post

US and Afghan forces have launched a series of attacks on narcotics laboratories in southern Afghanistan, marking the start of what could become a long,…


Aghanistan: Ghani Warns Regarding Looming Water Crisis Threatening Kabul City

Nov 19, 2017 | Khaama Press

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani warned regarding the looming water crisis threatening capital Kabul and other key cities of the country. Speaking during the 4th round…


Afghanistan: US-Funded 32 Irrigation Networks to Benefit 44,000 Afghans

Nov 19, 2017 | Daily Outlook Afghanistan

Thirty-two modern irrigation networks are being established in eight provinces to cover about 7,000 hectares of land, officials said on Saturday. Eng. Nasir Ahmad Durani,…


Bahrain: The "Oil War" in the Persian Gulf

Nov 19, 2017 | Dr. Shaul Shay, Israel Defense

An explosion ripped through the oil pipeline near the village of Buri some 15 kilometers from the capital of Bahrain, Manama, on November 10, 2017.…


Afghanistan: Ghani Pledges to Resolve Land-Grabbing Issue

Nov 18, 2017 | TOLOnews

Addressing the 4th Urban Conference in Kabul on Saturday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Afghanistan’s urban areas were facing numerous challenges but that these issues…


Myanmar: New Aquaculture Economy Emerged on Rising Fish Demand

Nov 17, 2017 | Kang Wan Chern, Myanmar Times

Domestic demand for farmed fish in Myanmar has risen substantially over the past 10 years, with many small-scale fish farms emerging across the Ayeyarwady region.…


Conflict Minerals: Robin Wright’s Mission to End Conflict Minerals

Nov 16, 2017 | Carl Shih, The Lily

Robin Wright has never been the type of woman to sit still. As an activist and now entrepreneur, Wright began channeling her Hollywood fame as…