International
Liberia: ‘Too Much Money’: No Land - GVL Planning Liberia Bow
Mar 8, 2016
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Rodney D. Sieh, FrontPageAfrica
A recurring Liberian nightmare is forcing another concessionaire out the door. FrontPageAfrica has reliably learned that the palm giant, Golden Veroleum, the world’s second largest…
Kurdistan/Iraq: Idle Pipeline Almost Halves North Iraq February Oil Exports
Mar 7, 2016
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Isabel Coles, Reuters
Oil exports from northern Iraq nearly halved in February due to the ongoing outage of a pipeline to Turkey, wiping $350 million off the cash-strapped…
Myanmar: China Will Renegotiate on Myitsone Dam with New Government
Mar 5, 2016
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Mizzima
Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Mr. Hong Lian said that China would renegotiate with Myanmar’s new government on Myitsone Dam, averting any call to seek damages…
Afghanistan: Opium Bounces Back, Enriching Taliban and Afghan Officials
Mar 4, 2016
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Hanne Couderé, IRIN
Poppy season is in full swing in the western province of Helmand, which last year yielded almost half of Afghanistan’s entire opium harvest, according to…
Myanmar: Jade Traders Call for Open Market as Sales Reach New Lows
Mar 4, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
Plummeting demand from China has spurred jade traders to demand the right to sell internationally. Traders say the economic slowdown in Myanmar’s giant neighbour, and…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Taliban War: Opium Fuels Conflict as Farmers Pray for a Prosperous Harvest
Mar 4, 2016
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Michael Kaplin, International Business Times
Despite billions of dollars in U.S. investment to eradicate opium cultivation, Afghanistan produces the bulk of the world’s opiate supply, and much of that money…
Iraq: Iraq to Pay $2 bln in Arrears to Foreign Companies-Deputy Oil Minister
Mar 4, 2016
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Aref Mohammed, Reuters
Iraq will pay foreign oil companies about $2 billion in remaining arrears for 2015 this April and expects to reach an agreement over contracts by…
South Sudan: South Sudan Oil Production Pollution Threatens Thousands: Rights Group
Mar 4, 2016
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Agence France-Presse
Dangerous heavy metals used in oil production in war-torn South Sudan have leaked into drinking water sources used by 180,000 people with life-threatening health risks,…
Kurdistan/Iraq: Kurds Tighten Grip on North Iraq Oil Fields with Kirkuk Deal
Mar 3, 2016
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Khalid Al Ansary and Bruce Stanley, Bloomberg
Iraq’s self-governing Kurds are cementing control over oil produced in the north of the country by agreeing to sell crude pumped in the contested province…
Sri Lanka: Little Hope for Displaced Sri Lankans to Have Land Returned
Mar 3, 2016
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Niranjani Roland and Asanka Fernando, Union of Catholic Asian News
Land grabbing went into overdrive after Sri Lanka's 25-year-long civil war ended in 2009. Following the conflict, large tracts of land inhabited by Tamil communities…
Egypt/Ethiopia: Water Wars Intensify Between Egypt, Ethiopia
Mar 3, 2016
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Walaa Hussein, Al-Monitor
Egyptians are worried about uncertainties surrounding Ethiopia's schedule for storing Nile water behind the walls of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The latest satellite photos show Ethiopia is preparing…
South Sudan: Group: Wildlife Poaching on the Rise in South Sudan
Mar 3, 2016
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Rodney Muhumuza and Charlton Doki, Associated Press
South Sudan's wildlife and other natural resources are being threatened by an alarming expansion of illegal exploitation and trafficking, a conservation group said Thursday. The…
Climate Change: Bin Laden Called for Americans to Rise up over Climate Change
Mar 2, 2016
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Jonathan Landay, Reuters
Osama bin Laden wrote a letter calling on the American people to help President Barack Obama fight "catastrophic" climate change and "save humanity", in the…
Myanmar/Thailand: For Thai Buyers, Uncut Myanmar Gems Lose Their Shine
Mar 1, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
Thailand's demand for uncut Myanmar gems has fallen as jewellers increasingly source from other countries across the globe, experts said last week at a major…
Iraq: Iraq's Mosul Dam Faces 'Risk of Catastrophic Failure,' U.S. says
Feb 29, 2016
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Dana Ford, CNN
Iraq's Mosul Dam is facing a "serious and unprecedented risk of catastrophic failure with little warning," the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad warned on Sunday. At…
Afgahnistan: Saffron Production in Afghanistan to Exceed over 4,000 kg This Year
Feb 29, 2016
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Khaama Press
The production of saffron in Afghanistan is expected to surpass 4,000 kg this year with the officials expressing optimisms that the production boost could help…
Liberia: Gunfire Near Monrovia
Feb 29, 2016
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The New Dawn Liberia
A shootout over a land dispute on the Bright Farm, located on the outskirt of Monrovia left one person critically injured over the weekend as…
Iraq: Iraq Second Behind US in Global Oil Supply in 2015
Feb 29, 2016
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Phil Allan, Energy Voice
Iraq was the second-leading contributor to the growth in global oil supply in 2015, behind only the United States. Crude oil production in Iraq, including…
Angola: Angola Hopes to Turn Steel into Gold as Oil Hammers Economy
Feb 28, 2016
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Dawn Kissi, CNBC
Angola is about to provide a test case of whether diversification can help boost an economy that relies heavily on oil production The brutal global…
Turkey/Kurdistan/Iraq: Turkey Starts Repairs on Iraqi Kurdish Oil Pipeline as Violence Flares
Feb 27, 2016
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Humeyra Pamuk and Seyhmus Cakan, Reuters
Turkey has begun work to repair a pipeline taking crude oil from northern Iraq to the Mediterranean through its restive southeast and aims to restore…
South China Sea: Fresh Tension in South China Sea Erupts – Analysis
Feb 26, 2016
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Rajaram Panda, Eurasia Review
The South China Sea is the most critical waterway through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. The area is believed…
Australia: View from Canberra: Defence and Climate Change
Feb 26, 2016
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Australian Defence Magazine
As the rising waves lap seaside homes around the nation, global warming induced storms wreak devastation and soaring temperatures bring the national power grid to…
Iraq: Total, Vitol Fined in Iraq Oil-for-Food Case by French Court
Feb 26, 2016
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Gaspard Sebag, Bloomberg
French oil company Total SA was fined 750,000 euros ($826,125) after judges found it guilty of corruption in Iraq’s oil-for-food program. Total is guilty of…
Kurdistan/Iraq: Iraqi Kurdish Oil Pipeline Seen Shut for Two More Weeks
Feb 26, 2016
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Humeyra Pamuk and Orhan Coskun, Reuters
Iraqi Kurdish oil exports to world markets could remain halted for another two weeks, Turkish shipping and industry sources said on Friday citing rising security…
Afghanistan: More Problems for the Dahla Dam – One of Canada’s Afghan Signature Projects
Feb 26, 2016
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David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
When Canada’s diplomats, development specialists and soldiers left Kandahar in 2011, our involvement with the dam ended and the government declared the $50-million project a…
Sierra Leone: Diamond Exports in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone Plummet in 2015
Feb 25, 2016
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Agence France-Presse
Diamond exports from Sierra Leone saw a steep fall in 2015, the deputy minister for mines said Wednesday, February 24, with miners restricted from working…
Myanmar: Authorities Permit Vigilantes in Myanmar to Destroy Poppy Fields
Feb 24, 2016
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Latin American Herald Tribune
Christian anti-narcotic vigilantes in Myanmar's northern Kachin State have agreed a deal with local authorities on a bid to destroy large areas of poppy fields,…
Colombia: Colombia Becomes Second Largest Exporter of Trout and Tilapia to US
Feb 24, 2016
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Fish Info & Services Co.
The strategy adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture to conquer international markets for Colombian agricultural products has consolidated Colombia as the second largest exporter to…
India/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Invites India to Explore Resources in Disputed South China Sea Region
Feb 24, 2016
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Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, Economic Times
Vietnam on Wednesday invited strategic partner India to explore and explot natural resources within the Southeast Asian countries 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the…
Sudan: Oil Minister Discuss with Chinese Officials Building Sudan’s First Natural Gas Pipeline
Feb 24, 2016
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Sudan Tribune
Sudanese oil minister Mohamed Zayed Awad Wednesday held discussions with Chinese officials to build the first gas pipeline in Sudan and ways to develop gas…