Situation Reports

Nigeria's election commission announced that it had ordered national elections originally scheduled to be held Feb. 16 to be postponed for a week, the Nigerian news outlet Premium Times reported.

South African electricity company Eskom has announced it will likely halt power outages after nearly a week of destabilizing load shedding, Bloomberg reported Feb. 14.

The Egyptian parliament has approved amending the country's constitution to extend presidential terms from four to six years, Egypt Today reported Feb. 14.

The U.S. government is considering blocking foreign companies and individuals from conducting business with Venezuela's state-owned energy firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Bloomberg reported Feb. 14.

Chinese banks issued a record-high 3.23 trillion yuan ($476 billion) in new yuan loans in January, marking an almost threefold increase from December’s 1.08 trillion yuan ($159 billion), Bloomberg reported Feb. 15.

An expert panel assembled by the Colombian government has said three hydraulic fracturing pilot projects may advance under strict monitoring, Reuters reported Feb. 14.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has confirmed that his government will soon notify the World Trade Organization of its intention to revoke Pakistan's most-favored nation status on national security grounds, The Economic Times reported Feb. 15.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the sidelines of ongoing trade negotiations between their countries in Beijing, The New York Times reported Feb. 15.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced an early general election for April 28, El Pais reported Feb. 15.

A suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel in the Sistan-Baluchistan region on Feb. 13, killing 27 and injuring 13 more, Fars News Agency reported Feb. 14.