News
Iraq: Mosul Dam Flows, Returning Power to IS Held City Below
Jan 30, 2016
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Patrick Osgood and Rawaz Tahir, Iraq Oil Report
The Iraqi government restarted electricity and water supplies to Mosul on Saturday, as engineers running the Mosul hydroelectric dam re-opened its main gates, fearing the…
China/United States/South China Sea: U.S. Challenges China’s Claim of Islands with Maritime Operation
Jan 30, 2016
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Jane Perlez, New York Times
China on Saturday accused the United States Navy of violating its laws by sending a warship within the 12-mile territorial zone of an island it…
Cyprus: Communications Intern
Jan 29, 2016
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UNDP
Since 2001, the United Nations Development Programme has been responsible for the implementation of the European Union funded Programme “Partnership for the Future (PFF)”. UNDP-PFF…
“The Most Toxic War in History” – 25 Years Later
Jan 29, 2016
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Doug Weir
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the start of Operation Desert Storm, the combat phase of the Gulf War. Precipitated by Iraq’s invasion and…
Liberia: Public Hearing on Proposed Land Authority Bill Reconvenes Soon Senate Commended
Jan 29, 2016
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Liberian Observer
The Liberian Senate, through its Committees on Lands, Mines, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment & Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petitions, has been commended for…
Afghanistan: Mining Leases to Foreigners Upset Local Investors in Fata
Jan 29, 2016
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The News International
The issuance of prospective licenses and leases to Afghan refugees on the basis of fraudulently made nationality documents on the one hand has caused unrest…
Angola: Land-Grabbing as a Path to Riches and Status in Angola
Jan 29, 2016
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Maka Angola
Angolan investigative journalist and human rights defender Rafael Marques de Morais has submitted a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General about the behaviour…
Colombia: UN Pushes Colombia to Support Family Farming Post-Peace Deal
Jan 29, 2016
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teleSUR
Colombia should invest more in small family farming, and at least 30 percent of the public budget should go toward supporting small scale producers—at least…
Middle East: Hunger Grips Millions across Middle East as Conflict Fighters use Food as Weapon of War
Jan 29, 2016
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Associated Press
In a Middle East torn apart by war and conflict fighters are increasingly using food as a weapon of war. Millions of people across countries…
Conflict Minerals: Global Witness: 'EU Needs to Take Firm Stand on Conflict Minerals' [Interview]
Jan 29, 2016
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Anke Rasper, Deutsche Welle
The NGO Global Witness campaigns against human rights violations. It says more needs to be done to combat the trade of diamonds from conflict zones.…
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…