International
Myanmar: Timber Smuggling Continues in Sagaing Despite Ban, Virus
Jul 10, 2020
|
Khin Su Wai, Myanmar Times
The number of illegal logs seized in the first nine months of the fiscal year shows that timber smuggling remains rampant in Sagaing Region despite…
Afghanistan: Afghan Women Spin New Careers by Reviving Ancient Silk Road Crafts
Jul 9, 2020
|
Stefanie Glinski, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Once an important Silk Road trading hub, the Afghan city of Herat has long been a cultural centre, but decades of war have ravaged its…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Glencore Restructures $500 Million Oil Loan With Iraqi Kurdistan
Jul 9, 2020
|
Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, Bloomberg
Glencore Plc has restructured a $500 million oil-for-cash loan to Kurdistan in northern Iraq, reducing payments for 2020 as the semi-autonomous region struggles due to…
Myanmar: Efforts to Fix Myanmar’s Deadly Jade Mine Issue Face Obstacles
Jul 9, 2020
|
Nan Lwin, Irrawaddy
In the wake of the disaster, the government has set up a committee to investigate the accident, while Myanmar’s military sacked the Kachin State security and border…
Colombia: Colombia Lost More Than 158,000 Hectares to Deforestation in 2019
Jul 9, 2020
|
Reuters
Colombia lost 158,894 hectares (392,636 acres) of forest in 2019, a 19% drop from the previous year, the government reported on Thursday, amid fears that…
Iraq: Shrinking Water Supplies Threaten to Put Fragile Iraq 'on the Edge'
Jul 8, 2020
|
Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation
As lower oil prices and a coronavirus-driven downturn batter Iraq's economy, availability of safe water is eroding and could fuel greater tensions, security experts warned…
Indonesia: Women, Peace and Security and Indonesia's Foreign Policy
Jul 7, 2020
|
Retno LP Marsudi
The issue of women, peace and security is one of the priorities of Indonesia’s foreign policy. This priority is manifested also in our support for…
Climate Woes Growing for Women, Hit Worst By Displacement and Migration
Jul 7, 2020
|
Megan Rowling
From sexual violence in displacement camps to extra farm work and greater risk of illness, women shoulder a bigger burden from worsening extreme weather and…
Myanmar: Corruption, Weak Rule of Law Cited as Myanmar Probes Latest Jade Disaster
Jul 7, 2020
|
Radio Free Asia
A team appointed by the Myanmar government to probe a massive landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar has begun its investigation into the…
Falklands Land Grab: UK Sent Warning as South American States Rally around Argentina
Jul 7, 2020
|
Brian McGleenon, Express
Argentina has reaffirmed its claim over the Falklands Islands and now the country has gained support from the South American common market of countries such…
Liberia: Ministry of Internal Affairs Resolves Boundary Disagreement in Rivergee; as Minister Sirleaf Stresses Peaceful Co-Existence
Jul 6, 2020
|
FrontPage Africa
Residents of two Districts of Rivergee County namely Chedepo and Potupo have finally settled their long-running boundary dispute, days after a dialogue initiated by the…
Iraq/Lebanon: Lebanon, Iraq Discuss Exchanging Oil for Food
Jul 4, 2020
|
Middle East Monitor
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar discussed on Friday exchanging Iraq’s oil with Lebanon’s food and other industries, news…
Myanmar: ‘I Thought I Would Die’: Inside Myanmar’s Risky Pursuit of Jade
Jul 3, 2020
|
Saw Nang and Richard C. Paddock, New York Times
Mr. Aung Kyaw Htay was one of hundreds of unauthorized jade pickers scavenging on the edges of the Wai Khar open-pit mine in Kachin State,…
China/Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam, Philippines Denounce China Military Drills in Disputed Waters
Jul 2, 2020
|
Phuong Nguyen and Neil Jerome Morales, Reuters
Vietnam and the Philippines on Thursday criticised China’s holding of military drills in a disputed part of the South China, warning it could create tension…
DRC: Report Accuses Israeli Mogul of Setting up Global Network to Launder DR Congo Money
Jul 2, 2020
|
i24 News
An Israeli mining mogul set up a global money laundering network to work around American sanctions and extract mineral wealth from the Democratic Republic of…
Syria: A River of Toxic Waste Flows through Syria
Jul 1, 2020
|
PAX
Rivers of crude oil and oil waste are flowing through northeast Syria, with no solution in sight for the thousands of people affected by the…
Rwanda: How Rwanda’s New Export Certificate Will Curb Illegal Mineral Imports
Jul 1, 2020
|
Ishioma Emi, Ventures
The Rwandan government recently launched a new mineral export certificate to curb the illegal smuggling of precious metals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).…
Syria: US Troops 'Secure' Northeast Syria Oil, as Contamination from It Imperils Lives
Jun 30, 2020
|
Dan Wilkofsky and Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
The Kurds of northeast Syria shot to global renown for their valiance against the Islamic State (IS). But today, they face a scourge that is potentially…
Egypt/Ethiopia: Egypt, Ethiopia Discuss Nile Dam Dispute at UN Security Council
Jun 30, 2020
|
James Bays, Al Jazeera
Egypt has told the United Nations it faces an existential threat, from a hydroelectric dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River. Ethiopia…
Libya: State Company: Russian Mercenaries Enter Major Oil Field
Jun 29, 2020
|
Energy & Environment News
Russian and other foreign mercenaries have entered Libya's largest oil field, the country's National Oil Corp. said Friday, describing the development as an attempt to…
Iraq: Iraq to Review Some Oil Contracts at High-Cost Fields
Jun 28, 2020
|
Reuters
Iraq is reviewing oil contracts with some companies operating fields where costs are high, in order to reduce expenses while cutting production, Al-Sabah newspaper quoted…
Vietnam: Vietnamese Family Held after Spreading News of Deadly Land Dispute
Jun 26, 2020
|
Agence France-Presse
Four members of a Vietnamese family who spread news online about a deadly land dispute have been arrested, authorities said Thursday, as the communist government…
Afghanistan: New World Drug Report: Opium Production in Afghanistan Remained the Same in 2019
Jun 25, 2020
|
Jelena Bjelica, Afghanistan Analysts Network
The United Nations Drugs and Crime Office’s (UNODC) World Drug Report, released today, shows a decrease in the cultivation of opium in Afghanistan in 2019 following price…
Libya: Women, Peace, and Security in Libyan Context
Jun 25, 2020
|
United Nations Support Mission in Libya
Full and effective participation of women in public life, including all political processes and peace building initiatives remains essential and a core priority for UNSMIL.…
Uganda: Integrating Gender into Climate Change Interventions
Jun 25, 2020
|
Sarah Kenyi, Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung
The effects of climate change such as prolonged droughts and unreliable weather patterns adversely impact smallholder coffee growing farmers in Uganda. To mitigate this, the…
Myanmar: Mogok Bans Entry to Unlicensed Gem Mines
Jun 25, 2020
|
Kyaw Ko Ko, Myanmar Times
Mogok township in Mandalay Region will prohibit people from entering gem-mining concessions that have expired licenses. Ko Soe Min Hlaing, a local resident, described the…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Uses Green Stimulus to Hire Lockdown Jobless, Boost Kabul's Water Supply
Jun 25, 2020
|
Sayed Hassib, Reuters
Lockdown measures to curb the spread of the disease have taken their toll on Afghanistan's economy, so the government is employing more than 40,000 jobless…
Colombia: A Community’s Struggle to Protect Itself from Land Mines in the Colombian Amazon
Jun 25, 2020
|
Camila Osario, New Yorker
The Siona indigenous territories are located in the state of Putumayo, which has, since the nineteen-sixties, been the crossroads of a war between the Colombian…
Yemen: Seawater Seeping into Decaying Oil Tanker off Yemen Coast
Jun 25, 2020
|
Maggie Michael, Associated Press
The United Nations said an abandoned oil tanker moored off the coast of Yemen loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil is…
DRC: UN Calls for 'Sustained Efforts' against DRC Natural Resource Trafficking
Jun 25, 2020
|
Agence France-Presse
The UN Security Council called Thursday for "sustained efforts" in preventing the illegal trade of natural resources from the DR Congo, as gold in particular…