International


Afghanistan: Soybean Production Doubles in Afghanistan This Year

Jan 24, 2016 | Pajhwok Afghan News

This year was a record breaking for soybean production in Afghanistan, when farmers produced 4,000 metric tonnes of soybean, registering 100 percent increase in comparison…


Sudan: Report Highlights Rampant Corruption in Sudan’s Oil Sector

Jan 24, 2016 | Agence Africaine de Presse

There is rampant corruption in the Sudanese oil sector including the institutionalized lack of accountability and transparency, a Sudanese human rights group; Sudan Democracy First…


Liberia: Liberia, EU Review Progress under Legal Timber Trade Deal

Jan 23, 2016 | FrontPageAfrica

Representatives of Liberia and the EU have met to review progress towards implementation of their Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which aims to ensure Liberia exports…


Myanmar: Arsenic Found in Ayeyawady, Bago and Rakhine Water

Jan 23, 2016 | Eleven Myanmar

The amount of arsenic in drinking water in Ayeyawady and Bago regions and Rakhine State has reached danger levels, according to the Department of Medical…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan President: Time has Come to Redraw Middle East Boundaries

Jan 22, 2016 | Martin Chulov, Guardian

The president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish north has called on global leaders to acknowledge that the Sykes-Picot pact that led to the boundaries of the…


Myanmar: Myanmar Oil and Gas: Optimism amid Oversupplies and Low Prices

Jan 22, 2016 | Khine Kyaw, Eleven Myanmar

Despite growing calls for amending their production-sharing contracts in light of plunging oil prices, oil and gas companies operating in Myanmar are still optimistic, as…


Myanmar: Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Shines Light on Resource Sector

Jan 22, 2016 | Steve Gilmore, Myanmar Times

Myanmar's first report under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has provided levels of disclosure on companies’ activities “unthinkable” just a few years ago, NGOs…


China/Vietname/South China Sea: China Drops Online Notice of Oil Rig Location after Vietnam Complaint

Jan 22, 2016 | Reuters

Chinese maritime officials on Friday removed an online notice giving the location of a $1-billion (700.62 million pounds) deepwater oil rig in the South China…


Liberia: Civil Society Cautions Lawmaker about Tempering with Land Act

Jan 22, 2016 | Edwin Genoway Jr, FrontPageAfrica

The Civil Society Working Group on Land Rights, a coalition of CSOs working on community land rights in Liberia is calling on the Liberian Legislature…


Sudan/ South Sudan: Sudan’s President Orders Change to Oil Deal with South Sudan

Jan 22, 2016 | Mohamed Osman, Washington Post

Sudan’s state-run news agency says the Sudanese President Omar Bashir has ordered revisions to the economic agreements struck with South Sudan in a positive gesture…


Water Security: Ban Ki-Moon Gathers Heads of State for Political Response to Water Scarcity

Jan 21, 2016 | Karl Mathiesen, Guardian

The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has convened an emergency panel of heads of state to prompt a political response to the world’s increasing scarcity…


Sudan/South Sudan: Sudan Agrees to Cut Oil Transit Fees for South Sudan Crude

Jan 21, 2016 | Reuters

Sudan has agreed to cut the transit fees for South Sudanese oil crossing its territory via pipeline to the Red Sea, the official Sudan News…


Afghanistan: Protesters Demand Power Dam’s Construction in Kunar

Jan 21, 2016 | Pajhowk Afghan News

Hundreds of people on Thursday staged a protest demonstration in eastern Kunar province, demanding the construction of a hydropower dam in the province. One of…


Suan/Darfur: Painted Marker Posts Help Quell Land Conflicts in Sudan's Darfur

Jan 20, 2016 | Katy Migro, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Before war broke out in Sudan's Darfur region, trust between communities was such that Arab herders stowed their excess luggage with farmers when they migrated…


Iraq/Syria/Islamic State: ISIS Halves Fighters' Salaries Following Losses of Territory, Oil and Cash

Jan 20, 2016 | Emily Canal, Forbes

ISIS cut the salaries of their fighters by 50%, resulting in the loss of several hundreds of dollars per month, according to documents from the…


South Sudan/Sudan: South Sudan Now Losing Money from Oil Exports: Analysts

Jan 20, 2016 | Agence France-Presse

Falling world oil prices combined with a fixed fee for the use of export pipelines mean South Sudan is now losing money on every barrel…


Conflict Minerals: Testing Their Metal: The New Tech Sector Focus on Conflict Minerals

Jan 20, 2016 | Heather Clancy, GreenBiz

Intel made tremendous strides over the past seven years in eliminating so-called conflict — aka "blood" — minerals from much of its product line. But…


Vietnam/China/South China Sea: Vietnam Objects to Chinese Oil Rig in Disputed Waters

Jan 20, 2016 | Mike Ives, New York Times

The Vietnamese government has lashed out against the presence of a Chinese oil rig in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the latest…


China/South China Sea: By 2030, South China Sea Will Be ‘Virtually a Chinese Lake,’ Study Warns

Jan 20, 2016 | Simon Denyer, Washington Post

China will have so many aircraft carriers by 2030 that the South China Sea will be “virtually a Chinese lake,” a new U.S. study warns,…


Philippines/China/South China Sea: Philippines Plans Tracking System for Civilian Flights over Disputed Sea

Jan 19, 2016 | Saudi Gazette

The Philippines plans to install a $1-million satellite-based system to track commercial flights over the disputed South China Sea, after China landed its first test…


Iraq: Iraq Wants Foreign Oil Firms to Cut Development Spending, Oil Minister Says

Jan 19, 2016 | Reuters

Iraq wants foreign oil companies to cut spending as the nation seeks to narrow a budget gap caused by lower crude prices, oil minister Adel…


Sudan/South Sudan: Khartoum Preparing for South Sudan’s Possible Oil Shut Down, Says Official

Jan 19, 2016 | Sudan Tribune

The Sudanese government has undertaken technical measures in preparation of a possible oil production shutdown by the South Sudan, the country’s finance minister said Tuesday.…


Nigeria: Attacks on Oil Installations is Costing Nigeria $2.4M a Day

Jan 19, 2016 | Michelle Faul and Hilary Uguru, Associated Press

A Cabinet minister says multiple attacks on strategic oil and gas installations is costing Nigeria $2.4 million a day and the military warns it will…


Myanmar: No Civilians Included in Jade Mine Investigation Team

Jan 18, 2016 | Eleven Myanmar

Residents of Hpakant are concerned that jade mining companies will lie about the numbers of backhoes they use in excavations during an ongoing Union-level investigation…


Angola: Activist Lodges a Criminal Complaint against Land-Grabbing Governor

Jan 18, 2016 | Maka Angola

The activist Rafael Marques lodged today a criminal complaint in court against the Governor of Kwanza Sul Province, General Eusébio de Brito Teixeira, for seizing…


South Sudan/Sudan: Oil Pipeline Can Be Shut Down Anytime Soon – Ministry Warns

Jan 17, 2016 | Upper Nile Times

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mining has warned that it may turn off the pipeline and close down the oilfields in Paloch if Sudan refuses…


Cyprus/Turkey: Water Wars Escalate

Jan 17, 2016 | Esra Aygin, inCyprus

The latest standoff between the Turkish Cypriot and Turkish authorities over the management of water reaching the island’s northern part from Turkey, through a trans-Mediterranean…


Liberia: Conservation Group Disagrees with Senate Pro Temp Assertion

Jan 17, 2016 | FrontPageAfrica

After years of abuse, Liberia’s forest is gradually becoming a window of opportunities by diverting from the age old method of commercial logging to sustainable…


Iraq: Iraq's Southern Oil Exports Running at 3.3 Million bpd, Unaffected by Clashes

Jan 16, 2016 | Reuters

Iraq's exports from its southern region have been running at an average daily rate of 3.297 million barrels per day (bpd) so far this month,…


Myanmar: Rampaging Elephants Force Myanmar Villagers to Tree-Top Refuge

Jan 16, 2016 | Agence France-Presse

Pushed from their forest home by encroaching farm land, wild elephants are driving fearful villagers in a Myanmar township to seek refuge in tree houses…