International


DRC: The Complexities of Military Involvement in Mining

Aug 22, 2019 | Patrick Kingsland, Mine Magazine

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the military has deployed hundreds of troops to protect a copper and cobalt mine from illegal mining, while in…


Myanmar: Locals Say Officials Took Bribes, Freed Illegal Loggers in W. Myanmar

Aug 22, 2019 | Htet Naing Zaw, Irrawaddy

Lower House lawmaker U Myint Wai, of Rakhine State’s Gwa Township, accused forest department staff and police of setting free illegal loggers arrested in his…


Palestine: Palestine's Energy Transformation: How Does Energy Scarcity Intersect with Gender Justice?

Aug 22, 2019 | Madeleine Race, The Ecologist

Many people in Palestine live with extreme energy scarcity. Local communities have no sovereignty over their energy supply, due to Israeli occupation since 1967.

The Israeli control…


Battlefield to Pastures: Group Helps Veterans Turn Farming into a Career

Aug 21, 2019 | Leslie Adami, ABC News

For some veterans, transitioning from life in the military to life back at home can be difficult, discouraging and even scary. One of the groups…


Liberia: Mass Protest Hangs over Loggings Activities in Liberia

Aug 21, 2019 | FrontPage Africa

Section 19 of the National Forestry Reform Law of 2006 makes provision with respect to a fair and transparent procedure for allocating and distributing financial…


Afghanistan: All Ministry of Mines & Petroleum Sections Computerized

Aug 21, 2019 | Daily Outlook Afghanistan

Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) officials say all systems of the ministry have been computerized to ensure transparency, accountability, speedy administration and reduce corruption.…


Afghanistan: Efforts Underway to Prevent Illegal Coal Mining [Video]

Aug 21, 2019 | TOLOnews

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has called for the National Security Council's help to limit illegal mining in coal deposits in the northern parts…


Myanmar: Fatal Landslide Raises Alarms over Myanmar’s Natural Disaster Preparedness

Aug 20, 2019 | San Yamin Aung, Irrawaddy

In the blink of an eye, a massive landslide washed it all away: homes, vehicles, people—all buried deep beneath the mud at the base of…


Liberia: VPA Gets Another 3-Year Mandate

Aug 20, 2019 | Observer

The lifespan of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Government of Liberia (GoL) through the Forestry Development Authority (FDA),…


Myanmar: Natural Disasters Take a Heavy Toll This Year

Aug 20, 2019 | Myat Moe Aung, Myanmar Times

Government officials announced on Monday that 82 people have been killed and about 200,000 displaced by landslides and flooding in Myanmar since June 25. Another…


Why Legal Principles on War and Environment Matter

Aug 20, 2019 | UN Environment

On 8 July 2019 the International Law Commission adopted 28 draft legal principles on first reading to enhance protection of the environment before, during and…


Saudi Arabia/Yemen: Yemeni Rebel Drone Attack Targets Remote Saudi Oil Field

Aug 20, 2019 | Environment & Energy News

Drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked a massive oil and gas field deep inside Saudi Arabia's sprawling desert on Saturday, causing what the kingdom…


Myanmar: Indigenous Communities in Myanmar Take Action against Top-Down Conservation

Aug 20, 2019 | Anirudha Nagar, Diplomat

The need to put indigenous peoples at the center of conservation efforts could not be clearer. Evidence is mounting that indigenous stewardship of natural resources is key…


DRC: Woman Killed in DR Congo Illegal Mining Crackdown

Aug 19, 2019 | Agence France-Presse

A woman was killed in clashes between subsistence miners and security forces at a Chinese-owned mine in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, sources said on…


Liberia: Solidaridad Certificates Young Graduates as Oil Palm Facilitators

Aug 19, 2019 | George Harris, Observer

Oil-palm is one of the emerging sectors attracting investor attention to Liberia from around the globe. The country’s oil palm market has seen an average…


Colombia: Indigenous Yukpa Besieged by Deforestation and Armed Conflict

Aug 19, 2019 | Julián Sáenz and Semana Sostenible, Mongabay

There is still hope in the innocent eyes of Yukpa children. They play, laugh, and jump about, despite the difficulties their people face. However, the…


Colombia: Meet the Chocolate Company That Is Reforming ex-Cocaine Producers through Blockchain

Aug 18, 2019 | Business Leader

Choco4Peace (C4P) is a multi-institutional movement that supports constructing and sustaining peace by generating positive socio-economic and environmental outcomes in post-conflict regions through the empowerment…


Myanmar: Microgrids Could End Energy Scarcity

Aug 16, 2019 | Samikchhya Kafle, Myanmar Times

Nyaungshwe township in southern Shan State is in dire need of clean, adequate energy. Households in Nyaungshwe make use of solar home systems for lighting…


South Sudan: Latest Images Reveal a Global Hotspot for Biodiversity

Aug 16, 2019 | Nathan Williams, Fauna & Flora International

Fauna & FIora International (FFI) began working in South Sudan (when it was still part of Sudan) in 2010, and over the ensuing decade has…


DRC: China's Huayou Pulls out of Congo Cobalt Mine Investment after Price Slump

Aug 16, 2019 | Reuters

China’s biggest cobalt refiner Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt said on Thursday its overseas unit is pulling out a deal to invest $66.3 million in a cobalt…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Trade in Jade Now Dominated by Chinese Buyers Online

Aug 16, 2019 | Radio Free Asia

Myanmar’s trade in jade is now dominated by direct sales online, with the highly valuable stone often smuggled untaxed across the border to Chinese buyers,…


Afghanistan: Pomegranate Products Increase in Afghanistan's Poppy Growing Helmand Province

Aug 15, 2019 | Xinhua

The products of pomegranate is going to increase in the poppy growing Helmand province. The product of pomegranate in Helmand, would increase from 20,000 tons…


Myanmar: A Deadly Fight in Magway Region for the Ayeyarwady’s 'Gold'

Aug 15, 2019 | Hein Thar, Frontier Myanmar

Villagers in Magway Region have blamed a riverside clash that left at least 30 people dead on an inadequate response by government officials to a…


Afghanistan/Iran: Hamoun Wetland Restoration Plan Prepared

Aug 14, 2019 | Tehran Times

In the last two decades, once fertile wetlands have drastically dried up. The Taliban government closed the sluices to the Kajaki dam on the Helmand…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Chinese Ship Returns to Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone

Aug 13, 2019 | James Pearson and Khanh Vu, Reuters

A Chinese survey ship returned to Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone off its coast on Tuesday, ship tracking data showed, less than a week after it…


Colombia: Study Details Links between Coca, Conflict, Deforestation in Colombia

Aug 13, 2019 | Brooks Hays, United Press International

Sometimes, trees fall down on their own, but deforestation is fueled by human activities. In Colombia, those activities sometimes involve coca, the crop from which…


Myanmar: New Report: Proposed Myanmar Dam Could Displace Thousands

Aug 13, 2019 | Leonie Kijewski, Al Jazeera

Myanmar government officials claim a hydroelectricity project along the Tanintharyi River could significantly benefit the Southeast Asian nation. But new research by a trio of human…


South Sudan: AfDB to Help Streamline South Sudan’s Oil Sector

Aug 12, 2019 | Julius Barigaba, East African

As South Sudan works to increase its oil production beyond the current 150,000 barrels per day, it has enlisted the help of the African Development…


Armenia: Ninth Circuit Dismisses Armenian Genocide Land Grab Lawsuits Claiming Statute of Limitations Had Expired

Aug 12, 2019 | MassisPost

A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of lawsuits by descendants of Armenian genocide victims, finding the statute of limitations on claims that…


Myanmar: Beyond Myitsone: The Sleeping Chipwi Hydropower Project

Aug 12, 2019 | Ye Mon, Frontier

While the Chipwi dam project is still many years away from completion, what remains at the remote work site is testament to the scale of…