International


Myanmar: Myanmar Urged to Review Hydropower Dam Projects Seen Damaging to Rural Communities

Jul 10, 2018 | Radio Free Asia

The Myanmar government must undertake reforms in its hydropower sector to prevent dam projects from negatively impacting rural ethnic minority communities in southeastern Kayin state,…


Afghanistan: Pistachio, Not Poppy

Jul 10, 2018 | Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Local authorities in the southern Afghan province of Helmand are hoping to provide local farmers with an alternative to growing poppy by rolling out a…


Afghanistan: Underground Water Level Goes 20 Meters Down in Kabul

Jul 9, 2018 | Navid Ahmad Barakzai, Pajhwok Afghan News

Officials of the water supply company and urban canalization on Monday said the underground water level in the capital has severely polluted and lowered by…


South Sudan: Rising Health Risks in South Sudan: Radioactive and Toxic Contamination

Jul 9, 2018 | Francis Michael, Via News

Plug County is located in the Melut Basin, home to South Sudan’s most productive – and hence polluting – oil fields. In view of this…


Sudan/South Sudan: Sudanese Team Arrives in South Sudan to Inspect Oil Fields

Jul 9, 2018 | Sudan Tribune

Sudan’s Ministry of Oil and Gas Sunday said a delegation has been dispatched to South Sudan to check on arrangements for resuming oil pumping. State…


Philippines: School Fixed as DENR Eyes Use of High-Tech Land-Mapping Tool for Marawi City Rehab

Jul 8, 2018 | BusinessMirror

Bullet-riddled Pendolonan Elementary School in Marawi City got a surprised fixing from outsiders in time for the return of schoolchildren, a year after the locale…


Iraq: Protests Turn Violent in Iraq’s Oil-Rich Basra over Unemployment, Lack of Electricity

Jul 8, 2018 | Salar Ali, Kurdistan 24

People took to the streets of Basra on Sunday, the center Iraq’s oil industry, to protest the lack of services and job opportunities in the…


Philippines: Land Mapping System to Be Used in Marawi

Jul 8, 2018 | Ellalyn de Vera Ruiz, Manila Bulletin

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be making use of a modern land mapping system to sustain order in the war-ravaged Marawi…


Sudan/South Sudan: South Sudan Agrees to Compensate Sudan for 2012 Heglig War Damage

Jul 6, 2018 | Dickens H. Okello, Chimp Reports

The South Sudanese government has agreed to pay Sudan damages incurred during the 2012 war in the disputed oil rich Helgig region. ChimpReports has seen…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Perilous Talc Mines

Jul 6, 2018 | Asad Jabarkhail, Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Safdigul Shirzad spends his days working in a talc mine in Markikhail village in the eastern province of Nangarhar’s Shirzad district. In return, he gets…


Sudan: Tribal Leaders in Sudan's Disputed Abyei Agree on Migration Corridors

Jul 5, 2018 | Radio Dabanga

At a conference brokered by the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) that ended today, leaders of the disputed border area's Misseriya and Dinka…


Iraq: Iraq Bans Farming Summer Crops as Water Crisis Grows Dire

Jul 5, 2018 | Philip Issa, Associated Press

Iraq has banned its farmers from planting summer crops this year as the country grapples with a crippling water shortage that shows few signs of…


Liberia: Charcoal Union Wants Allocation of 'Pro-Poor Forest'

Jul 5, 2018 | Alvin Worzi, Daily Observer

Women from five of the 15 counties represented their colleagues at the occasion in Monrovia. The government through the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) should place…


Liberia: Watchdogs Strategize to Protect Liberia’s Remaining Forest

Jul 5, 2018 | Joaquin M. Sendolo, Daily Observer

The Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) with funding from the British…


Food Security: Agriculture Key to Conflict Prevention, Says FAO Chief

Jul 5, 2018 | Business Standard

Agriculture plays a vital role in averting conflict and promoting lasting peace, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation chief Jose Graziano da Silva said on…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Fires and Armed Conflict Take Toll on Kurdish Flora, Fauna

Jul 5, 2018 | Fazel Hawramy, Al-Monitor

Wildfires are common in Iraqi Kurdistan, a scenic region where many Iraqis seek refuge from the summer heat. Several fires broke out across the Kurdistan mountains in…


Colombia: Can Bird Watching Help Save Colombia's Forests?

Jul 4, 2018 | Manuel Rueda, Deutsche Welle

Colombia teems with birds, but until recently fighting between the government and guerilla groups scared visitors away. Now, former war zones are fast becoming bird-watching…


Afghanistan: Farmers Display ‘Alternate Poppy Crops’ at Kabul Expo

Jul 4, 2018 | Rohullah Arman, TOLOnews

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock held an agricultural exhibition in Kabul on Tuesday that was an “alternate to poppy cultivation”. The produce on…


South Sudan: South Sudan Restricts Export of Charcoal, Scrap Metal

Jul 4, 2018 | Xinhua

South Sudan on Wednesday imposed restrictions on exports of charcoal, waste and scrap of ferrous cast iron in a bid to regulate depletion of natural…


Libya: Oil Exports Suspension Could Create Crisis

Jul 4, 2018 | Jamal Jawhar, Asharq Al-Awsat

The crisis of suspending Libyan oil exports from eastern regions overshadowed the political and social life of the country, amid the fear of a "catastrophic"…


Myanmar: Soil Dumping Worsens Impact of Flooding in Mining Areas, Activists Say

Jul 3, 2018 | Zarni Mann, Irrawaddy

Environmental activists in the Hpakant and Lonekin jade mining regions of Kachin State have urged the government to impose strict controls on the dumping of…


Sierra Leone: 144.12-Carat-Diamond Discovered in Sierra Leone

Jul 3, 2018 | National Minerals Agency

The Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources and the National Minerals Agency (NMA) hereby inform the general public that a 144.12 carat diamond was brought…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Still in Talks with Turkey, KRG over Resuming Kirkuk Oil Exports

Jul 3, 2018 | Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters

Iraq is still in talks with Turkey and Kurdish regional authorities to resume Kirkuk oil exports through the Ceyhan port, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi…


Iraq/Kurdistan: KRG Unaware of Negotiations with Baghdad on Resuming Kirkuk Oil Exports

Jul 3, 2018 | Rudaw

A senior Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official has denied knowledge of any negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad on the possible resumption of Kirkuk exports via…


South Sudan: US Envoy Sees Rise in Oil Output Easing South Sudan Peace Deal

Jul 3, 2018 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

South Sudan’s plan to boost oil production should help it fund a forthcoming transitional government that seeks to end more than four years of civil…


Colombia: Colombia’s Serranía de Chiribiquete becomes World’s Largest Tropical Rainforest National Park

Jul 3, 2018 | WebWire

Serranía de Chiribiquete National Park, located in the heart of the Colombian Amazon, was expanded today to 4.3 million hectares, making it the world’s largest…


Myanmar/Thailand: Water Purification Plant to Be Built Near Letpadaungtaung Copper Project

Jul 2, 2018 | Kaung Khant Lin, Eleven Myanmar

Thailand and Myanmar will invest US$5 million to build a water purification plant near Letpadaungtaung copper mining project in Monywa, Sagaing Region, according to the…


South Sudan: 'The Conflict Must End' - Fighting Threatens to Drive up Hunger Lean Season

Jul 2, 2018 | Africa Renewal

On Saturday, a new ceasefire came into effect in South Sudan. But within hours it had been violated - terrible news for millions of South…


Myanmar: Chasing Dinosaurs in Myanmar's Conflict-Ridden North

Jul 1, 2018 | Richard Sargent, Agence France-Presse

"Amber hunters" on a quest for a Jurassic Park-style discovery of dinosaur remains sift through mounds of the precious resin in Myanmar -- a lucrative…


Myanmar: Bid to Boost Good Governance in Myanmar’s Extractive Industries

Jun 30, 2018 | Khine Kyaw, The Nation

In an effort to improve transparency and good governance in extractive industries such as mining, gems and jade, oil and gas, Myanmar on Thursday launched…