International
Afghanistan: Poverty Rising in Afghanistan amid Prolonged Conflicts, Drought
Oct 22, 2018
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Xinhua
Harsh poverty and rising unemployment have spread across Afghanistan as the prolonged conflicts and fighting in the country, as well as drought and a decline…
Iraq: The World’s Fourth-Biggest Oil Producer Can’t Keep the Lights on
Oct 22, 2018
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Mohammed Sergie, Bloomberg
Iraq is fast becoming a global oil powerhouse, gaining stature in OPEC after it surpassed Canada this year as the world’s fourth-biggest producer. But the…
Palestine/Gaza: Olympic Dreams: Palestinian Swim Team Braves Pollution to Train in Gaza Waters
Oct 22, 2018
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Arab News
The Mediterranean hugs the entire 40-kilometer western border of the Gaza Strip, but almost no one enters its waters. The desperate shortage of energy and…
Tanzania: Dar, Kinshasa Join Hands against Minerals Smuggling
Oct 21, 2018
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Pius Rugonzibwa, Tanzania Daily News
Tanzania has invited mining investors from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as both countries plan to host mining forums and joint strategies in…
Climate Change: Climate Change Is Exacerbating World Conflicts, Says Red Cross President
Oct 21, 2018
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Helen Davidson, Guardian
Climate change is already exacerbating domestic and international conflicts, and governments must take steps to ensure it does not get worse, the head of the…
Iraq: World Iraqi Oil Minister Reverses NOC Decree to Take Ownership of State Oil Firms
Oct 21, 2018
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Kurdistan 24
Iraq’s Oil Minister, Jabar al-Luaibi, reversed his decision to transfer the ownership of nine state-owned oil companies from the ministry to the newly formed National…
EcoPeace Middle East Receives 2018 Stanford Bright Award
Oct 21, 2018
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ISRAEL21c
The Stanford Bright Award for 2018 was won by Gidon Bromberg and Munqeth Mehyar, the cofounders of EcoPeace, for their exceptional contributions to global sustainability…
South Sudan: Interrogation of Lundin Execs for Crimes Against Humanity and Environment in South Sudan
Oct 20, 2018
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Terry Swartzberg, ViaNews
“Lundin Petroleum’s chief executive and chairman are set to be charged with aggravated crimes against human rights over the Swedish oil company’s role in causing…
South Sudan: Sweden to Interrogate Oil Firm over Human Rights Violation in South Sudan
Oct 19, 2018
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Sudan Tribune
The Swedish centre-left government Thursday approved the prosecutor’s application to question Lundin Petroleum’s chairman, Ian Lundin, and CEO, Alex Schneiter, for gross human rights violations…
Pakistan: Illegal Import of Fruit and Vegetables Affecting Balochistan Farmers
Oct 18, 2018
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Israr Khan, The News
Lawmakers from Balochistan on Wednesday requested the government to block the illegally import of fruits and vegetables from Afghanistan, Iran and India as it was…
Iraq: Iraq Transfers Ownership of Nine State Oil Companies to New National Oil Company
Oct 18, 2018
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Reuters
Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi has issued a decree transferring the ownership of nine state-owned oil companies, including state oil marketer SOMO, from the oil…
Rwanda: Rwanda Starts Tracking Conflict Metal Tantalum with Blockchain
Oct 17, 2018
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Yogita Khatri, CoinDesk
Rwanda has turned to blockchain to track the supply chain of tantalum, a metal used in consumer electronics, in a bid to address concerns over…
Iraq: Water Pollution in Iraq Threatens Mandaean Religious Rites
Oct 17, 2018
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Philip Issa, Associated Press
Every Sunday in Iraq, along a strip of embankment on the Tigris River reserved for followers of the obscure and ancient Mandaean faith, worshippers bathe…
Myanmar: Will Myanmar’s ‘Genocide Gems’ Become the New Blood Diamonds?
Oct 17, 2018
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Sheridan Prasso, Bloomberg
A little more than a year ago, Myanmar’s military carried out what the United Nations has called a campaign of genocide and war crimes against…
Global Hotspots for Potential Water Disputes
Oct 16, 2018
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European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Scientists of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) have identified the hotspots where competition over the use of shared water resources could lead to…
South Sudan: Peace at Last for South Sudan? That May Depend on the Price of Oil
Oct 16, 2018
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Okech Francis, Bloomberg
A civil war has cast South Sudan into five years of bloody upheaval. The latest peace deal may hinge on something that’s almost as unpredictable:…
India: Bengaluru Is a Window into the Water Wars of the Future
Oct 11, 2018
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Georgina Drew, Amalendu Jyotishi, and Deepika M. G., Quartz
Bengaluru is home to some ten million people. It might also be the next city to experience “day zero”: when it runs out of ground…
Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pak-Afghan Cooperation for Sustainable Usage of River Kabul Stressed
Oct 11, 2018
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The News
Afghan Consul General Professor Mohammad Moeen Marastial has urged the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to sit and discuss water issues between the two countries…
Afghanistan: Afghan Farmers Fleeing Drought Face More Hardship in Camps
Oct 11, 2018
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Agence France-Presse
For only the second time in his life, Afghan farmer Murad Khan Ishaqzai has been forced to leave the home where he was born 80…
Afghanistan: 'Creating Peace through Business’: Rumi Spice Takes Single-Origin Saffron to Wider US Audience
Oct 10, 2018
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Mary Ellen Shoup, FoodNavigator-USA
Known as a pricey and somewhat elusive spice, the delicate ruby red saffron threads can be intimidating to many consumers. Socially conscious Rumi Spice is…
Liberia: Community Forestry Hijacked by Logging Companies, Risk of Future Conflict Heightens
Oct 10, 2018
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FrontPage Africa
A new investigation from Global Witness has revealed how progressive community forestry in Liberia is being undermined by the logging industry, with companies reportedly using…
Iraq: New Iraq Oil Contracts to Call for 85 Percent Local Content
Oct 10, 2018
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MEED
There has been growing popular unrest over the state of the Iraqi economy as the general population sees little of its oil wealth.
Russia: Land Grab? Why the Ingush Are Furious with Chechnya
Oct 10, 2018
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Tony Wesolowsky, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Magas, the capital of the southern Russian region of Ingushetia, has been at the center of fresh controversy in the volatile North Caucasus region of…
Syria: Erratic Weather, Conflict Weigh on Syria’s Agriculture Output
Oct 10, 2018
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Eric Schroeder, World-Grain.com
An extended period of dry weather early in the crop season followed by heavy out-of-season rains have led to poor grain growing conditions in Syria,…
Nigeria: Farmers/Herders Conflict: Group to Set up Integrated Farming Communities in Three States
Oct 10, 2018
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Eagle Online
A Non-Governmental Organization, Synergos Nigeria, has begun a pilot program to integrate farming and pastoralist communities in parts of Kaduna, Benue and Kogi States.
Victoria…
Afghanistan: Industrialists Say Struggling with Power, Land Shortages
Oct 10, 2018
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Pajhwok Afghan News
The Afghanistan Industrialist Association (AIA) on Monday said 420 new factories were set up in capital Kabul during the last eight years, but the plants…
Iran: Iran Is New Transit Point for Somali Charcoal in Illicit Trade Taxed by Militants: UN Report
Oct 9, 2018
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Michelle Nichols, Reuters
Criminal networks are using Iran as a transit point for illicit Somali charcoal exports that earn Islamist militants al Shabaab millions of dollars annually in…
DRC: AVZ Minerals’ Scoping Study Reveals US$1.6 Billion Net Present Value for Lithium Project in DRC
Oct 9, 2018
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Proactive Investors
AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson said the Manono Lithium Project is now the largest undeveloped hard rock lithium project globally in terms of grade, mine…
Colombia: Land, Oil, Mining, Drug Crops: Colombian Amazon Tough for Small Farmers
Oct 9, 2018
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Barbara J. Fraser, Catholic News Service
Companies that once avoided Colombia’s Amazonian region because of the hazards of war are now jockeying to profit from timber, oil, minerals and palm oil…
Syria: Erratic Weather and Prolonged Conflict Take Toll on Syria’s Agricultural Output
Oct 9, 2018
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
Extreme weather conditions during Syria's seventh year of conflict has caused domestic cereal production to decline sharply, two UN agencies announced today. The conflict in…