International
Afghanistan: Red Gold: Afghanistan Saffron Production Grows
Dec 12, 2018
|
Phys.org
Authorities struggling to wean farmers off the highly profitable opium poppy trade are hoping to use saffron as an attractive alternative. And the results are…
Myanmar: Log Exports to Be Permitted to Lure Timber Plantations
Dec 11, 2018
|
Thiha Ko Ko, Myanmar Times
The Forest Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has been planning to permit the export of logs harvested from private timber…
Liberia: Five Counties ‘Red Zones’ for Land Conflicts in Liberia
Dec 11, 2018
|
Alvin Worzi, Observer
The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) has said Liberia continues to experience huge land conflicts in Montserrado, Margibi, Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa counties as these…
Syria: Syrian Civilians Seize Oil Wells from Rebel Group
Dec 11, 2018
|
Irina Slav, OilPrice
A large group of Syrian civilians took control over several oil wells in eastern Syria after clashes with rebel group Syrian Democratic Forces, Iranian Fars…
South Sudan: South Sudan's Oil Suitors Still Skeptical over Security
Dec 11, 2018
|
Ian Lewis, Petroleum Economist
An agreement under which South African state-controlled companies could invest as much as $1bn in South Sudanese energy projects, including a refinery, is welcome news…
Myanmar: Renewed Calls to Stop Dam Construction in Shan
Dec 11, 2018
|
Naw Betty Han, Washington Post
Shan communities and local members of parliaments have renewed their opposition to two dams being built in Namtu and Nam Teng rivers in Shan State…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Hopeful about Replacing Opium Crops with Saffron
Dec 11, 2018
|
Mohammad Sadiq Rashtinai and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara
At a sprawling government agricultural research farm in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, workers are now picking tiny purple flowers. Officials in the region…
Governments Reflect on Key Elements of Peacebuilding, Sustaining Peace
Dec 11, 2018
|
Catherine Benson Wahlén, International Institute for Sustainable Development
The UN Security Council discussed peacebuilding and sustaining peace in the context of post-conflict reconstruction, security and stability, in a debate on 5 December 2018.…
DRC: This Congo Project Could Supply the World with Lithium
Dec 10, 2018
|
Frik Els, Mining.com
Manono project became the world’s largest non-brine lithium resource after the Perth-based company released the maiden estimate for its 60%-owned project in the southern Congo…
Liberia: “Data Is a Serious Problem for Agriculture Sector”
Dec 10, 2018
|
David A. Yates, Observer
Agriculture Minister Dr. Mogana Flomo says the lack of agriculture data remains a serious challenge to the sector, “because data collection is a serious problem…
Nigeria: The Ordinary People Keeping the Peace in Nigeria’s Deadly Land Feuds
Dec 10, 2018
|
Max Bearak, Washington Post
Nigeria’s population has grown exponentially and is projected to surpass the United States’ by 2050, although Nigeria is 11 times smaller in area than the…
Afghanistan: Afghan Villagers Face Hunger as Fighting Cuts Northern Roads
Dec 10, 2018
|
Matin Sahak, Reuters
Villagers in the northern Afghan province of Faryab have appealed to the government for help after being cut off from food supplies for weeks by…
Afghanistan: Armed Groups, MPs, Officials Involved in Illegal Mining: MEC
Dec 10, 2018
|
Anisa Shaheed, TOLOnews
The Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) on Monday released its first report on extraction of mines in the country, in which it…
Colombia: Miners Operating in Colombia Accused of Forcing People off Their Land
Dec 9, 2018
|
Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, Mining.com
Colombian Forjando Futuros foundation issued a report accusing 33 companies and 150 individuals, both foreign and Colombian, of forcing people living in rural communities off…
Afghanistan: 'Worst Drought I Have Seen': Afghan Farmers Forced to Flee
Dec 7, 2018
|
Phys.org
Wheat and opium farmer Murad Khan Ishaqzai, 80, has never seen a drought as bad as the one ravaging western Afghanistan where more than 250,000…
Colombia: 'Forgiveness Is to Remember Without Pain': FARC Ex-Combatants Live Fragile Peace in Colombia
Dec 7, 2018
|
Albin Hillert, SOJO
Following the 2016 peace treaty between FARC and the Colombian government, Rubén and a group of ex-combatant families purchased and now cultivate 36 hectares of…
New Zealand: Food Scarcity, Land Disputes: New Zealand Defence Force Issues Alarming Climate Forecast
Dec 6, 2018
|
Zane Small, NewsHub
The New Zealand Defence force has issued a stark warning about the effects of climate change and how it will be forced to adapt to…
Yemen: Almost Four Years of Conflict Leads to Declaration of Catastrophic Food Security Conditions in Yemen
Dec 6, 2018
|
CARE
As pockets of famine-like conditions are announced in parts of Yemen and the majority of the population are shown to be suffering from emergency or…
Colombia: Their Waters Wrested Away, Colombia's Island Fishermen Lament - and Learn
Dec 6, 2018
|
Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation
“But we can’t fish there. I’m afraid to go there,” fisherman Oreste Howard laments, as his small one-engine motor boat bobs in the breeze. The…
Iraq: Cleaning up after ISIS: How Iraq’s New Chemicals Team Is Trying to Undo Years of Conflict Pollution
Dec 5, 2018
|
UN Environment
ISIS (also known as the Islamic State or Da’esh) has more or less been defeated in Iraq, but throughout the areas it once occupied, the…
Sri Lanka: Tamil Villagers Call for End to Archaeology Land Grab in Trincomalee [Photos]
Dec 5, 2018
|
Tamil Guardian
Locals in Trincomalee have written to the Divisional Secretariat of Kuchchaveli, calling for an end to an attempt by Sri Lanka’s archaeology department to seize…
DRC: DRC Classifies Cobalt, Coltan as 'Strategic' Minerals
Dec 5, 2018
|
Africa News
Cobalt and coltan, used in electric vehicle and renewable energy technology have been classified as strategic minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congolese Prime…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone's 'Peace Diamond' Dividend Slow in Coming
Dec 5, 2018
|
Agence France-Presse
They were promised a "peace diamond" dividend in the Sierra Leone village of Koryardu after the stone they handed over for auction fetched $6.5 million…
Myanmar: Jade Is Anything but Green
Dec 5, 2018
|
Nick Meynen, Ecologist
Jade is the diamond of the East. A fast-growing, high-income class in China - who often cherish mystical values associated with jade - are causing a…
Peace, Not War, Responsible for Deforestation in Armed Conflict Zones
Dec 5, 2018
|
University of Waterloo
Rates of deforestation in war zones increase dramatically once peace is declared, according to a study from the University of Waterloo. Forests and jungles provide…
Pakistan: Land Grabbers, Henchmen Arrested in Islamabad after Gun Battle with Police
Dec 4, 2018
|
Munawer Azeem, Dawn
The police arrested 42 people posing as the Taliban in order to grab land, after a gun battle during an operation Sunday night. Four policemen…
Colombia: El Nino May Cut Colombia's Rainfall by 80 pct in Q1 2019 - Minister
Dec 4, 2018
|
Reuters
The El Nino weather phenomenon could reduce rainfall in Colombia by 80 percent in the first quarter of 2019, the country's environment minister said on…
Colombia: Colombia Tropical Forest Fires Spike after 2016 Peace Accords
Dec 4, 2018
|
Rutgers University
Fires that contribute to deforestation spiked six-fold in Colombia in the year after an historic 2016 peace agreement ended decades of conflict between FARC guerrilla…
DRC: Cobalt Mining Shows Clean Energy Revolution Comes at a Price
Dec 3, 2018
|
Zoe Dawson, Irish Times
Iraq: Iraqi Security Prevents Protesters from Storming Oilfield
Dec 3, 2018
|
Middle East Monitor
Iraqi security forces yesterday prevented dozens of demonstrators from storming the major oilfield of West Qurna 2 in the country’s southern province of Basra.