International
Iraq: Iraq Oil Revenues Now at Just 15% of Level Two Years Ago: PM
Feb 12, 2016
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Agence France-Presse
Iraq's oil revenues have sunk to just 15 percent of their value two years ago, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Thursday, as he urged the…
Myanmar: Mining Ministry Calls for By-Law Proposals
Feb 12, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
The Ministry of Mines is preparing to amend the by-laws for a new mining law and has asked for suggestions and proposals. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw…
Myanmar: Illegal Trade Soars without Customs Teams
Feb 12, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
Illegal trade has risen since the government abolished its smuggling taskforce in December, leading to a fall in official business through the country’s largest cross-border…
Myanmar: Central Myanmar Already Short on Water
Feb 12, 2016
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Eleven Myanmar
Residents from Myaing Township in Pakokku District, Magway Region, are already facing water scarcity as artesian wells are running dry. Myaye Yint village has faced…
Kurdistan/Iraq: Iraqi PM Discourages Kurdish Independence Referendum
Feb 11, 2016
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Reuters
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi urged the country's autonomous Kurdistan region not to go ahead with a proposed referendum on independence, saying it would be…
Conflict Minerals: University of Glasgow Commits to Clearing Supply Chains of Conflict Minerals
Feb 11, 2016
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Blue and Green Tomorrow
Student campaigners have celebrated action taken by the University of Glasgow to address human rights abuses in its ethical procurement policy. They say that the…
Conflict Minerals: Negotiations Begin in Europe on Proposed Legislation
Feb 10, 2016
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Institute of Printed Circuits
Informal negotiations between the EU Council, Commission and Parliament (trialogue) started on the conflict minerals dossier on February 1, 2016. The trialogue is an informal,…
Sudan/Darfur: Sudan Summons U.S. Envoy over Darfur Sanctions Draft Resolution
Feb 10, 2016
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Reuters
Sudan's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. charge d'affairs in Khartoum on Wednesday over Washington's sponsorship of a draft UN Security Council resolution extending sanctions related…
Timor-Leste: Labor Offers New Maritime Boundary Deal for East Timor
Feb 10, 2016
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Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald
Labor has pledged to submit to international adjudication over the disputed maritime boundary between Australia and East TImor if "good faith" negotiations fail to produce…
Afghanistan: Newcastle Man Helped Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan
Feb 10, 2016
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Maia Zewert, Lincoln County News
Merle Parise, of Newcastle, credited serving on various local boards and organizations and his studies in environmental science and climate and society as contributing factors…
Colombia: Drought in Colombia Causes Food Prices to Skyrocket
Feb 10, 2016
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teleSUR
Colombia has been suffering the effects of El Niño for months, causing intense drought in certain regions of the country. But the drying up of…
South Sudan: South Sudan Says 500 Elephants May Have Died During Two-Year War
Feb 9, 2016
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Okech Francis, Bloomberg
At least 500 elephants may have been killed during South Sudan’s two-year civil war, including 15 slaughtered in one day last month, the African nation’s…
Colombia: Colombia Court Revokes all 347 Mining Licenses in Paramos
Feb 9, 2016
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Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports
Colombia’s constitutional court has revoked all mining licenses granted to companies that wanted to carry out mining activities in one of the South Americans paramos, according to…
Afghanistan: IS Runs Timber Smuggling Business in Afghanistan, Officials Say
Feb 8, 2016
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Zia-U-Rahman Hasrat, Voice of America
Islamic State has started cutting down trees in some parts of eastern Afghanistan in a timber-smuggling operation to neighboring Pakistan, according to Afghan officials and…
South Sudan: Unprecedented Food Crisis Looms over Strife-Torn South Sudan, UN Agencies Warn
Feb 8, 2016
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United Nations
South Sudan faces unprecedented levels of food insecurity, with 2.8 million people, nearly 25 per cent of the population, in urgent need of aid, at…
Myanmar: With Mining Law Changes, Are Foreign Firms Set to Dig In?
Feb 8, 2016
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Seamus Martov, The Irrawaddy
Long-anticipated revisions to Burma’s Mining Law, which were passed by the outgoing Parliament at the end of last year, could spur foreign investment in a…
Kurdistan/Iraq: KRG Oil Exports Earn $682M a Month
Feb 7, 2016
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Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International
With formal statehood under consideration, the Kurdish government continues to make its regular payments for crude oil exports, Genel Energy said. Genel, which has headquarters…
South Sudan/Sudan: South Sudanese Government Says Will Pay Sudan Unpaid Arrears in Kind
Feb 7, 2016
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Sudan Tribune
South Sudanese government said Sunday it has reached an understanding with the government of neighbouring Sudan to pay in kind as a payment for unpaid…
Myanmar: Diversion Eeirs Installed to Prevent Embankment Erosion in Magway Region
Feb 7, 2016
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Eleven Myanmar
The Water Resources and Creeks Development Department of Magway Region, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, is building diversion weirs across the regions rivers…
Afghanistan: Governor Orders Halt to Forest Cutting in Nangarhar
Feb 6, 2016
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Zeerak Fahim, Pajhwok Afghan News
Launching a spring tree plantation campaign, the governor on Saturday said he had directed district and police chiefs of some districts to prevent forests from…
Myanmar: Myanmar Submits Landmark Extractive Industries Report
Feb 5, 2016
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Oliver Slow, Frontier Myanmar
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has welcomed the first report to be submitted by Myanmar since it was granted candidate status for membership with the…
Colombia: Peasants Sue over Mining Contamination
Feb 5, 2016
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World War 4 Report
Indigenous and Black communities in Colombia's Chocó department filed a lawsuit this week, claiming 37 of their children died after drinking water contaminated with mercury by…
Climate Security: New Climate & Security Film: The Age of Consequences
Feb 4, 2016
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Sophie Robinson, Huffington Post
A documentary is taking a new twist on climate change: THE AGE OF CONSEQUENCES, to be released in late 2016, investigates the impacts of climate…
China/Vietnam/United States/South China Sea: Vietnam Backs Latest US Challenge to Beijing’s Sovereignty in South China Sea, Say Analysts
Feb 3, 2016
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Kristine Kwok, South China Morning Post
Washington may claim its latest operation in the South China Sea was aimed at challenging Vietnamese territorial claims in the region as much as China’s,…
Iraq: Iraq Awards Contract for Repairing 'Most Dangerous Dam in the World'
Feb 3, 2016
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Qassim Abdul-Zahra, The Associated Press
Iraq on Tuesday awarded an Italian company a contract to overhaul and maintain the Mosul dam in the country's north, days after a U.S. general…
Iraq: Iraq's Illegal Hunting Problem
Feb 3, 2016
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Wassim Bassem, Al-Monitor
The abduction of 26 Qatari hunters, including members of the ruling family, by a Shiite armed group — which demanded a $1 million ransom for…
South Sudan/Sudan: South Sudan and Sudan Agree to Peg Crude Pipeline Fees to Oil Price
Feb 3, 2016
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Africa Report
Transit fees that Sudan charges its neighbour South Sudan will be based on prevailing crude oil prices, a move away from a fixed fee, South…
Liberia: Burkinabe Land Occupants ‘Claim’ Ownership in Grand Gedeh
Feb 3, 2016
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Agence Africaine de Presse
Reports from southeastern Grand Gedeh County say Burkinabes occupying an estimated 500 acres of land in the forest bordering Cote d’Ivoire are laying claim to…
Land Rights: Investor Push Urged to Help Secure Indigenous Land Rights
Feb 3, 2016
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Megan Rowling, Reuters
Conditions are ripe for a global leap forward in recognizing the land rights of indigenous people and forest communities, but investors and the public need…
Iraq: Iraq Oil Exports up but Revenues Plunge on Low Prices
Feb 2, 2016
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Agence France-Presse
Iraqi oil exports rose in January compared to the previous month but revenue fell by more than $650 million due to plunging crude prices, the…