News
Kurdistan/Iraq: Electricity Supply in Iraq's Kurdistan Region Hit by Blast
Jan 29, 2016
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Reuters
A pipeline for gas used to generate around half the electricity in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region was blown up on Friday, knocking out power, a…
Iraq: Iraq's Mosul Dam Could Face Catastrophic Collapse - Top U.S. General
Jan 28, 2016
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Reuters
The U.S. military has a contingency plan to deal with a potential collapse of Mosul dam in northern Iraq which would be catastrophic, the top…
Yemen: FAO Warns of Rapidly Deteriorating Food Security in Yemen
Jan 28, 2016
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Gulf Today
More than half of the total population of Yemen, some 14.4 million people, are food insecure, as ongoing conflict and import restrictions have reduced the…
Myanmar: Malnutrition Spikes in Myanmar's Rakhine State after Floods - EU Agency
Jan 28, 2016
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Alisa Tang, Thomson Reuters Foundation
The number of severely malnourished children has spiked in northern Rakhine state in Myanmar, a European Union agency said, after floods six months ago dealt…
Can Myanmar Avoid Conflict Pitfalls in its Hydro Blitz?
Jan 27, 2016
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Alec Forss
Myanmar is undergoing multiple transitions, from military rule to democracy, decades of civil war to peace, and from a command economy to a market-based one.…
Myanmar: Letpadaung Farmers’ Crop Compensation Demands Denied
Jan 27, 2016
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Thuzar, The Irrawaddy
The Chinese firm Wanbao’s Burma subsidiary has reportedly told locals in the Letpadaung mine area that it has no plan to compensate them further, after…
South Sudan/Sudan: Sudan, South Sudan to Start Talks on Oil Fees Reduction
Jan 27, 2016
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Radio Tamazuj
South Sudan’s minister of petroleum and mining Stephen Dhieu Dau said they intend to start official talks with Khartoum on reducing oil transportation fees through…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Kurds Agree on Independence Vote, Official Says
Jan 27, 2016
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Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg
Iraqi Kurdish leaders plan to hold a referendum on the region’s independence, an official said on Wednesday, in a move that could lead to the…
Sudan: Sudanese Security Says Determined to Combat Gold Smuggling
Jan 27, 2016
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Sudan Tribune
The director of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta has declared a call up in the River Nile state to combat the…
Striking a Peace Deal with Colombia’s Forests and Fields
Jan 26, 2016
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Maria Alejandra Jaramillo
Last year, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that, before or on March 23, the government would sign a peace deal with the rebel group…
United States/China/North Korea/South China Sea: Kerry to Press China on North Korea, South China Sea
Jan 26, 2016
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Associated Press
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Beijing to push Chinese officials to do more to rein in North Korea's nuclear activities and decrease…
Iraq: Amid Falling Oil Prices and ISIS Threat, Iraq Cuts Free Healthcare
Jan 26, 2016
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Elizabeth Whitman, International Business Times
The robust healthcare system that Iraqis were once accustomed to has changed substantially in the past decade, but one of its most drastic upheavals has seen…
Liberia: ‘Not a Bottle of Marketable Oil Found’
Jan 26, 2016
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J. Burgess Carter, Liberian Observer
Grand Cape Mount Senator Varney Sherman has reechoed his prediction that the country’s economy will face very serious challenges with the downsizing or closure of…
Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan Takes Notice of Urea Smuggling to Afghanistan
Jan 26, 2016
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The Nation
Pakistan has taken notice of the smuggling of urea fertilizer to Afghanistan — a common ingredient of the most of the IEDs used in the…
Effects of Low Oil Prices on South Sudan’s Economy
Jan 25, 2016
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Mabor Maker Dhelbeny
The month of January, 2016 emerges with new crisis of low oil prices, not only in the Republic of South Sudan but worldwide. I called…
Climate change, Instability and Migration: Forging a Positive, Sustainable Response
Jan 25, 2016
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Benjamin Pohl
The climate conference that took place in Paris last month has repeatedly been billed as a crucial global summit, and even as a decisive moment…
Afghanistan: World Bank Provides Grant for Afghanistan's 100-MW Naghlu Hydropower Plant Rehab
Jan 25, 2016
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Michael Harris, Hydro World
The World Bank has signed an agreement with Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance, allocating funds to help the country rehabilitate its 100-MW Naghlu hydroelectric project. The…
Colombia: Agriculture Severely Threatened by HLB
Jan 25, 2016
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RCN Radio
The HLB disease could cause the end of Colombia's citrus industry at any time, according to Roberto Jaramillo, president of the national federation of growers,…
Myanmar: Opium Poppy Farmers Reject Crop Ban, War on Drugs
Jan 25, 2016
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Catherine Trautwein, Myanmar Times
Opium poppy farmers from Myanmar attending an international conference on “prohibited plants” have rejected a ban on growing their crops and urged an end to…
Iraq/Kurdistan: As ISIS Weakens, Oil Investment in Iraqi Kurdistan Soars, but Ordinary Iraqis Lose out on Riches
Jan 25, 2016
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Erin Banco, International Business Times
January marked the fifth month in a row that people living in the semiautonomous region have not received their salaries from the government's petrodollar budget. Some people are…
Afghanistan: Soybean Production Doubles in Afghanistan This Year
Jan 24, 2016
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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
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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
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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
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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…
Using Citizen Science to Assess Environmental Damage in the Syrian Conflict
Jan 22, 2016
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Wim Zwijnenburg and Andy Garrity
For new and ongoing conflicts across the world, the need to document their impact on civilians and the environment upon which they depend is encouraging…
How to Jumpstart the Afghan Economy
Jan 22, 2016
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M. Ashraf Haidari
To shore up its economy, Afghanistan and other South Asia countries need to stop playing power politics.
Afghanistan’s experience during and after the Cold War helps…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan President: Time has Come to Redraw Middle East Boundaries
Jan 22, 2016
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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
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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
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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
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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…