International

Liberia: Appointment at LEITI Draws More Ire – Partners Threaten Pullout

Mar 28, 2018 | Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, FrontPage Africa

The situation at the Liberia Extractive Industries Initiatives following the appointment of Gabriel Nyenka is degenerating into chaos as several stakeholder organizations are now threatening…

Afghanistan: As Kabul Grows, Clean Water a Step Toward State Legitimacy in Afghanistan

Mar 28, 2018 | Mohammad Shoaib Haidary, Asia Foundation

In 2050, Kabul’s population is expected to reach 9 million, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the world. People are flocking to…

Afghaistan: Sesame Oil Production in Balkh

Mar 27, 2018 | Economic Times

Roughly 300,000 litres of sesame oil are produced using the traditional method each year in Balkh, according to Zabihullah Zubin, a director at the provincial…

Iraq: Iraq May Build Oil Storage in Japan, South Korea to Drive Asian Sales

Mar 27, 2018 | Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters

Iraq is studying the possibility of building crude oil storage facilities in South Korea and Japan as part of a plan to increase sales to…

Afghanistan: Insurgents Profit from Afghan Pistachio

Mar 26, 2018 | Benafsha Benish, Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Residents of the northwestern province of Baghdis, home to Afghanistan’s highest concentration of pistachio forests, warn that armed gangs and Taleban fighters have taken over…

Afghanistan: Nut Jihad: Taliban Makes Millions from Pistachio Farms

Mar 26, 2018 | David Brennan, Newsweek

Heroin production, arms smuggling, kidnappings; the Taliban funds its ongoing war in Afghanistan with a wide range of illegal activities, putting its war-footing fund-raising ahead…

Myanmar: More Than 160 Villages in Ayeyarwady May Face Water Scarcity This Summer

Mar 25, 2018 | Nilar Soe, Eleven

A total of 168 villages in 56 village-tract of Ayeyarwady region may face a shortage of water during this summer, according to Rural Development Department.…

DRC: Miners Launch Bid to Avert Punishing New Taxes in DRC

Mar 25, 2018 | Jon Yeomans, Telegraph

Some of the world’s biggest mining companies are set to open negotiations with the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday over a new mining code that…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan Faces Severe Clean Water Shortage

Mar 25, 2018 | Tony Birtly, Al Jazeera

Afghanistan’s water crisis is one of the acutest in Asia. Less than a third of the country's population has access to clean drinking water. Thousands…

Iraq: A War for Oil #2: Iraq's New Deals Make Case for Invasion

Mar 23, 2018 | Inam Ahmed and Shakhawat Liton, Daily Star

Planning for the Iraq invasion started much before the real attack, as soon as Iraq signed oil contracts with Russia, China and France. The US…

Colombia: Colombia Scraps Amazon Highway Plans Due to Deforestation Concerns

Mar 23, 2018 | Taran Volckhausen, Mongabay

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos declared earlier this month that a controversial highway project that would cut through the Amazon will not be completed. Santos…

Africa: No More Tax-Evasions: Mineral-Rich African Countries Demand More from Mining

Mar 23, 2018 | Thomas Collins, African Business

In the past few months a number of mineral-rich African nations have sought to re-balance relations with international mining firms to secure a greater share…

Water Wars: River-Sharing Deals Mean Water War 'Is a Myth', Says Global Water Body

Mar 23, 2018 | Karla Mendes, Reuters

Agreements between countries that share the same river have helped to avoid about 1,800 conflicts in the past 50 years, the World Water Council (WWC)…

DRC: Cobalt Blockchain Inc. Announces Definitive Joint Venture Agreements on Cobalt Projects in the DRC and Filing of Cobalt Trading and Export License

Mar 22, 2018 | PR Newswire

Cobalt Blockchain Inc. is pleased to announce that it has entered into two definitive joint venture agreements for cobalt/copper concessions in the Democratic Republic of…

Chad/Niger/Nigeria: Better Governance of Underfunded, Poorly Managed Lake Chad Basin Key to Resolving Conflict, Suffering across Region, Speakers Tell Security Council

Mar 22, 2018 | UN Security Council

The environmental monitoring network in the Lake Chad Basin was inadequate, sparse, poorly funded and badly operated, a representative of the commission overseeing its management…

Myanmar: Hundreds in Myanmar Protest Lack of Payment for Land Confiscated for Pipeline Project

Mar 22, 2018 | Radio Free Asia

About 600 Myanmar protesters on Thursday demanded compensation from the Sino-Myanmar operators of dual pipelines in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state for land they confiscated for…

Liberia: Historical Injustices Should Be Addressed by Land Authority

Mar 22, 2018 | Abednego Davis, Liberian Observer

Dr. Yahannees Gebremedhin, Chief of Party of USAID- funded Land Governance Support Activities on Wednesday said that for Liberians to feel the relevance of the…

Colombia: Colombia Is Trying to Root out the Cocaine Trade, but Farmers Are Relying on It as an 'Insurance Policy'

Mar 22, 2018 | Christopher Woody, Business Insider

Colombia has faced pressure from the US to clamp down on the cocaine surge, but there were a variety of factors that drove it through…

Myanmar: Village Link Launches Cutting-Edge Digital Communication Platform for Farmers

Mar 21, 2018 | Mizzima

Village Link, a leading digital service company in Myanmar, officially introduces Htwet Toe, an innovative agri-mobile application for the farmers of Myanmar that aims to…

Liberia: ArcelorMittal Liberia under House Probe

Mar 21, 2018 | Leroy M. Sonpon III, Liberian Observer

The Plenary of the House of Representatives has mandated the committees on Lands, Mines and Energy; the Judiciary, Investment, and Labor to investigate Arcelor Mittal…

Iraq: The Savior of Iraq’s Garden of Eden Says He Knows How to Stop the Next Big War

Mar 21, 2018 | Alexander C. Kaufman, Huffington Post

Azzam Alwash, the man credited with restoring the Iraqi marshlands believed to be the biblical garden of Eden, is ready to say something controversial: He…

South Sudan: US Targets South Sudan Oil Firms with Sanctions to Choke off War Funds

Mar 21, 2018 | Lesley Wroughton and Timothy Gardner, Reuters

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 15 South Sudanese oil operators that it said were important sources of cash for the government, an…

DRC: What Democratic Republic of Congo’s Mining Reform Means for Africa

Mar 20, 2018 | Stephen Yeboah, BBN Times

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has undertaken a bold reform in its mining sector. This month, DRC’s its president Joseph Kabila signed into law…

Myanmar: Protest against Myanma Gems Bill-2017 Held in Hpakant

Mar 20, 2018 | Aung Hein Min, Eleven

A protest against the Myanma Gems Bill-2017 yesterday was held in Hpakant Township, Kachin State jointly organized by Kachin National Congress-KNC, Kachin Democratic Party-KDP and…

Iraq: The Explosive Battle to Build an Iraqi National Park [Photos]

Mar 19, 2018 | Peter Schwartzstein, National Geographic

If a determined band of local environmentalists get their way, all this might soon form part of Iraq’s first international standard national park. Undeterred by…

Liberia: Forest Dependents Hold Consultation on Community Resources Management

Mar 19, 2018 | FrontPage Africa

Under the auspices of the Liberia Forest Sector Project (LFSP), a team from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headed by the LFSP Focal Person, Z.…

Myanmar: ‘Excessive Mining’ Blamed for Kachin Water Shortage

Mar 19, 2018 | Aung Hein Min, Eleven

Residents of Kachin State have said “excessive jade mining” is a reason for a water shortage in the hot season. The Lonekhin village-tract where the…

South Sudan: Cows in the Classroom: Inside South Sudan's Cattle Camp Schools

Mar 19, 2018 | Stefanie Glinski, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Aid agencies are starting to provide mobile education in the remote cattle camps amid fears that South's Sudan's latest civil war is creating another "lost…

Iraq: Iraq Weighs Building an Island to Boost Oil-Exporting Capacity

Mar 19, 2018 | Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg

OPEC’s second-biggest producer is ramping up efforts to expand capacity to pump and export oil, with plans that include the injection of seawater into crude…

Iraq: Oil Was Supposed to Rebuild Iraq

Mar 19, 2018 | Krishnadev Calamur, Atlantic

In the lead-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq 15 years ago, one factor in the debate was the notion that the the war would…