International
Afghanistan: In Afghanistan, Clearing Landmines to Save Lives
Jan 1, 2018
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Jennifer Glasse, PBS NewsHour
Afghanistan is home to the world’s largest landmine removal program, but as special correspondent Jennifer Glasse reports, mine agencies have done little to clear the…
Afghanistan/Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan Cuts off Power Supply to Northwestern Afghanistan
Jan 1, 2018
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Qutbuddin Kohi, Pajhwok Afghan News
Turkmenistan has cut off power supply to Afghanistan’s border provinces, Da Afghanistan Breshna Shirkat (DABS) announced on Monday. To the chagrin of residents, power supply…
Afghanistan: MPs Want to Impeach Osmani over Dams, Budget
Dec 31, 2017
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Massoud Ansar, TOLOnews
Legislators in Afghanistan’s parliament are expected to try and impeach the minister of water and energy Ali Ahmad Osmani over his poor performance in the…
Afghanistan: Study Finds Toxic Substances in Kabul Water
Dec 30, 2017
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Nargis Mosavi, TOLOnews
A new study has found that many serious health problems among the people in Kabul are due to a dramatic increase in air pollution and…
Colombia: 'It's a Perverse System': How Colombia's Farmers Are Reforesting Their Logged Land
Dec 29, 2017
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Lisa Palmer, Guardian
Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, trailing only Brazil, and more than half of its territory is covered by forest. But…
Colombia: Khiron Receives Cultivation Quota from Colombian Government and Commences Cultivation of Medical Cannabis Strains
Dec 29, 2017
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Hailey Wahlberg, Investing News
Khiron Life Sciences Corp. reports that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Khiron Colombia SAS, has commenced cultivation of a variety of medical grade cannabis strains…
Myanmar: A Farmers Activist Is Beaten to Death, and the Video Goes Viral. How Tensions over Land Are Tearing at Myanmar
Dec 29, 2017
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Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times
In Myanmar, a lush Southeast Asian nation where 70% of the population makes a living from agriculture, a slow transition from half a century of…
Myanmar: Plundered Jade Mountains Leave Gaping Hole in Govt Revenue
Dec 28, 2017
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Nyan Hlaing Lynn, Frontier
In Myanmar, if you want to do business in jade you have to buy from the gems and jade emporiums jointly sponsored by the government…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq to Divert Most Kirkuk Oilfield Output to Iraqi Refineries, Says Official
Dec 27, 2017
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Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters
Iraq is preparing to divert most future output from Kirkuk oilfield to local refineries as a conflict with Kurdish regional authorities over the use of…
Myanmar: Parliament Approves Proposal to Ensure Transparency in Extractive Industries
Dec 27, 2017
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Htet Naing Zaw, Irrawaddy
Myanmar Lower House of Parliament on Thursday approved a proposal to ensure transparency in the country’s extractive industries and transfer back the gross revenues of…
Chad: 12 Sudanese Gold Prospectors Killed in Chad
Dec 27, 2017
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Sudan Tribune
Twelve Sudanese traditional gold prospectors have been killed and seventeen others injured on Monday by gunmen in Chad on the border with Libya. Eyewitnesses told…
Afghanistan: Illegal Extraction; Terrorist Groups Earn Millions of Dollars
Dec 26, 2017
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Afghanistan Times
“The mining sector has to be transparent, because it becomes a source of misfortune for Afghan people. The revenue goes to the powerful and terrorists’…
Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: Egypt Wants Outside Experts to Help Settle Nile Dispute
Dec 26, 2017
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Aaron Masho, Reuters
Egypt said on Tuesday it had suggested to Ethiopia and Sudan that they all call in international experts to help settle a dispute on an…
Colombia: Driven from Their Lands, Colombia’s Awá Struggle to Survive
Dec 26, 2017
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Michelle Begue, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Indigenous peoples like the Awá Mayasquer are among those most impacted by more than five decades of armed conflict in Colombia that has displaced more…
Liberia: Liberian Government Debunks Global Witness Publication of Forestry Tax Waiver
Dec 24, 2017
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FrontPage Africa
Forestry Industrial Development & Employment Regime Act of 2017 does not provide the timber industry a US$13 million tax gift and that every penny the…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Invites Bids to Build New Kirkuk Export Pipeline
Dec 24, 2017
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Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters
Iraq has given foreign energy companies a month to signal their interest in building a new export pipeline from the Kirkuk oilfields in the north…
Afghanistan: US Air Raids Have Destroyed 25 Taliban Drug Labs. They Might Be Aiming at the Wrong Target, Afghans Say.
Dec 23, 2017
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Sayed Salahuddin and Pamela Constable, Washington Post
One month after U.S. and Afghan forces began bombing suspected Taliban drug laboratories in Helmand province, Afghan officials and analysts say they are relieved that…
Afghanistan: Govt to Enforce Environmental Laws
Dec 23, 2017
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Gulabuddin Ghubar, TOLOnews
President Ashraf Ghani has issued a decree on the environmental law, stating any person found guilty of committing major pollution-related crimes can face between 16…
Myanmar: Daw Suu Stresses Transparency, Accountability in Mining Sector
Dec 22, 2017
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Frontier
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in the mining sector at a meeting with industry representatives in…
Colombia: Strengthening Farmer Organizations as Agents of Peace in Colombia
Dec 22, 2017
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Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-Operation
A new project of ICCO Cooperation in Colombia has been approved for signing by the European Union’s Trust Fund. In the project, farmer organizations will…
Liberia: Environmental Groups Criticize Liberia’s New Logging Law
Dec 21, 2017
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Jonathan Paye-Layle, Associated Press
Two global environmental watchdogs have condemned a new law in Liberia that they say rewards logging companies at the expense of one of the world’s…
Myanmar: Gem Sales down Pending Release of Law
Dec 21, 2017
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Nyein Zaw Lin, Myanmar Times
Gem sales have declined at the 2017 mid-year Myanma Gems Emporium, which is being held at the Mani Yadana Gems Hall in Nay Pyi Taw…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Salt Mines Pushing up Air Pollution
Dec 20, 2017
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Asian Age
Air-borne particles from the salt mines of Afghanistan are pushing up the levels of air pollutants in Delhi, a team of scientists has found. Initially,…
Afghanistan: Afghan Raisin Houses Get a Facelift to Boost Productivity
Dec 20, 2017
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Agence France-Presse
Keshmesh khanas — the Dari term for raisin houses — are getting a facelift as Afghanistan looks to improve its yield. The country once accounted…
Liberia: Land Issues, Top Source of Conflict in Liberia
Dec 20, 2017
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Ishmael F. Menkor, Observer
Land issues top the sources of conflict in Liberia, according to a survey conducted by the Liberian Peace-building Office has revealed. Speaking at a Catholic…
Climate Change: The Omission of “Climate Change” from the New US National Security Strategy Could Have Broad Diplomatic Consequences
Dec 20, 2017
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John Light, UN Dispatch
Earlier this week, Donald Trump put out a National Security Strategy that made no mention of climate change. This struck some observers as curious, given that many…
Myanmar: Central Rubber Market Expected upon Enactment of Rubber Law in Late 2018
Dec 20, 2017
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Khin Su Wai, Myanmar Times
The drafting of a new Rubber Law, which aims to create a central rubber market and raise the export quality of Myanmar rubber, is close…
Colombia: Colombians Demand Justice, Protection for Systematic Murders
Dec 19, 2017
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teleSUR
Colombia’s social groups and human rights activists have been the target of police aggression in the country’s rural sectors with over one hundred leaders falling…
Myanmar: Tenants Threaten to Protest over Land Dispute with Tatmadaw
Dec 19, 2017
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Ye Ywel Myint, Myanmar Times
Tenants on eight acres of land in Yangon are threatening to hold a protest if authorities do not act on their plea to stop the…
Sierra Leone: Pastor Who Found Giant Diamond in Sierra Leone to Get Less Cash Than Promised
Dec 18, 2017
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Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, Mining.com
Media reports from Sierra Leone say that Pastor Emmanuel Momoh will not receive the entire proceeds from the sale of the giant 'Peace Diamond,' which…