International


Afghanistan: Women to Join Taliban Delegation for First Time in Afghan Peace Talks

Apr 15, 2019 | Reuters

Women will be included for the first time in the Taliban delegation for talks this month with US officials and Afghan representatives in Qatar on…


Iraq/Kurdistan: What Did Russia Get from Its KRG Gamble?

Apr 15, 2019 | Mariya Petkova, Al Jazeera

While the KRG has been reaping the benefit of these deals, Russia and Rosneft's gains from this high-risk investment are yet to materialise in full.…


Timor-Leste: Australia Accused of 'Siphoning' Millions in Timor-Leste Oil Revenue

Apr 15, 2019 | Helen Davidson, Guardian

Australia has been accused of “siphoning” millions of dollars a month in oil revenue that should belong to Timor-Leste, because the government is yet to…


Afghanistan: Bird Hunters of Afghanistan [Photos]

Apr 15, 2019 | Reuters

Bird hunting is an ancient sport in Afghanistan, where local and migrating species have flocked for thousands of years and where even amid the chaos…


Iran: Living Fossil Resurfaces in Hamoun Wetland after Recent Floods

Apr 15, 2019 | Iran Front Page

After nearly two decades of drought in Sistan and Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, with the beginning of rainy season in neighbouring Afghanistan, flood waters…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Seeks Foreign Investments in Minerals to Develop $3 Trillion Industry

Apr 15, 2019 | Deena Kamel, National

Afghanistan offered 43 commodities projects for bidding on Monday as the country pushes to attract international investment, crack down on corruption and address security risks…


Afghanistan: Conservation May Offer Common Ground in Afghan Conflict

Apr 15, 2019 | Rhett A. Butler, Mongabay

War, drugs, corruption, and terrorism are terms Westerners are more likely to associate with Afghanistan than biodiversity conservation. But Alex Dehgan, a conservation technologist who…


Afghanistan: 9 Hydropower Dams to Be Completed over Next 3 Years

Apr 13, 2019 | Daily Outlook Afghanistan

The Ministry of Water and Energy said more than 250 water management projects were executed last solar year and nine hydropower dams would be constructed…


Myanmar: Putting Elephants before Tourists

Apr 13, 2019 | Thomas Kean, Frontier

There are no rides or performances for visitors at an award-winning elephant care camp in the Shan hills where the animals’ health is the top…


Colombia: In Colombia's Coca Heartland, Photos and Drawings Show Life between War and Peace [Photos]

Apr 13, 2019 | Laura Beltrán Villamizar, NPR

When Venezuelan photographer Fabiola Ferrero first traveled to the city of Florencia in Colombia, she took two instant cameras with her. Her goal: to portray…


Israel/Palestine: Israel’s Never-Ending Search for Oil in Occupied Golan Heights

Apr 12, 2019 | Mamoun Kiwan, Asharq Al-Awsat

Backed by Washington, Israel is spending an arm and a leg on oil drilling in the contested Golan Heights, Syria. Israeli daily, Haaretz, has reported…


Colombia: Police Attacked in Northern Colombia Trying to Enforce Land Restitution – Four Injured

Apr 12, 2019 | Jake Kincaid

Four police were injured in an attack while trying to enforce the restitution of land in Mutata, Uraba Antioquia Thursday, the latest chapter in onogoing…


Iraq: Heavy Rainfall Increases Fear of Mosul Dam Collapse

Apr 11, 2019 | Mina Aldroubi, National

Iraqi authorities warned on Thursday of the likelihood of a catastrophic collapse of the country’s largest hydro-electric dam due to torrential rainfall. The dam, near…


Somalia: 137,000 People Forced to Flee Their Homes This Year in Somalia

Apr 11, 2019 | Norwegian Refugee Council

Over 137,000 people fled their homes in the first quarter of 2019, according to the UNHCR led Protection Returns Monitoring Network. The number of people…


Myanmar: Myanmar Pipe in Land Row

Apr 11, 2019 | Upstream

Burmese farmers banned for five years from planting crops along the gas and oil export pipelines from Myanmar to China are up in arms over…


Colombia: In the Land of El Dorado, Clean Water Has Become ‘Blue Gold’

Apr 10, 2019 | Damian Carrington, Guardian

In the land where the legend of El Dorado began, the race is on to solve the mystery of a vital 21st-century treasure – the…


Afghanistan: Ministry Begins Survey on Afghanistan's Lithium Deposits

Apr 10, 2019 | Mir Haidarshah Omid, TOLOnews

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has started its assessments in certain parts of the country to identify lithium deposits, an official said on Tuesday.…


Liberia: USAID Makes Land Authority Visible on World Wide Web

Apr 10, 2019 | Alaskai Moore Johnson, FrontPage Africa

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-sponsored project has helped the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) to become visible on the world wide web at…


India: Bengaluru: Water Scarcity Spurs Tanker Wars

Apr 10, 2019 | Deccan Chronicle

The water scarcity in the city has become so acute that people are resorting to strong arm tactics to divert supply to their areas.


Afghanistan: Rehabilitated Seeds Farm Enables Farmers in Northern Afghanistan Grow Healthy Crops

Apr 9, 2019 | World Bank

Khan Mohammad oversees Khasa-Paz, a 973-jerib (194 hectares) inter-ministerial farm managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), which produces foundation seeds, primarily…


Food Security: Vulnerability Deepens East African Food Crisis Risks

Apr 9, 2019 | Oxford Analytica

After recurrent droughts from 2015-17, improved rains in mid-2018 looked to be easing regional food insecurity. However, new warnings of poor rains are renewing concern…


Afghanistan: Govt Concerned over Illegal Mining of Natural Wealth: Danesh

Apr 8, 2019 | Daily Outlook Afghanistan

Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish on Sunday said Afghanistan was blessed with rich natural resources which remained untapped until now. Addressing a gathering marking…


Myanmar:143K Tons of Trafficked Timber Seized over 3 Years

Apr 8, 2019 | Kyaw Myo, Irrawaddy

More than 143,000 tons of trafficked hardwood have been seized since the current administration took office three years ago, according to the Ministry of Natural…


Morocco/Western Sahara: Sales of Western Sahara "Conflict Minerals" Rise but Trade Is Getting Harder for Morocco to Maintain

Apr 8, 2019 | Dominic Dudley, Forbes

Some 1.93 million tonnes of phosphates were exported from the disputed territory of Western Sahara in 2018, with an estimated value of $164m, according to…


Climate Change: Climate Change Poses Security Risks, According to Decades of Intelligence Reports

Apr 8, 2019 | Dana Nuccitelli, Yale Climate Connections

A series of authoritative governmental and nongovernmental analyses over more than three decades lays a strong foundation for concern over climate change implications for national…


Climate Change: Climate Change, Conflict Exacerbate NENA Water Scarcity, Hunger

Apr 7, 2019 | OOSKAnews

The Director General of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UNFAO) has emphasized the necessity to “scale-up” innovation, policies and investments in the water sector…


Myanmar: Burmese Farmers Barred from Planting Crops Protest for Land along Pipeline Route

Apr 7, 2019 | NewsGram

Burmese farmers barred for five years from planting crops along the route of a Chinese oil and gas line are protesting new requests by an…


Iran/Iraq: Iran, Iraq Agree on Development of Joint Oilfields

Apr 7, 2019 | Rudaw

Iran and Iraq have taken a step towards joint development of oil fields on their shared border as the neighbours continue to strengthen their ties…


South Sudan: Is Oil Money Fuelling War in South Sudan?

Apr 6, 2019 | Al Jazeera

In February 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a report describing what it believes is funding the war: the country's rich oil industry.…


South Sudan: South Sudan Will Provide a Sixth of Its Oil Output to China to Fund Road Projects

Apr 6, 2019 | Bloomberg

South Sudan has tripled the amount of oil it is providing to the Export-Import Bank of China to fund the nation’s biggest infrastructure-development project. The…