International
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…
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…
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…
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…
Liberia: Civil Society Cautions Lawmaker about Tempering with Land Act
Jan 22, 2016
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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…