International
Colombia: Colombia Grants ‘Historic’ Protections to Rainforest, Indigenous Groups
Apr 13, 2018
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Morgan Erickson-Davis, Mongabay
In a move described as “unprecedented,” Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos announced Tuesday that the country intends to add 8 million hectares (80,000 square kilometers…
Myanmar: Indigenous Environmental Campaigner Killed by Myanmar Government
Apr 13, 2018
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Jonathan Watts, Guardian
Indigenous activists in Myanmar’s Karen state are mourning the killing of a community leader who campaigned for a peace park to protect a local forest…
Iraq: Iraq Delays Oil Auction after Late Contract Tweaks
Apr 12, 2018
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Mohammed Sergie, Khalid Al Ansary, Anthony Dipaola, and Kadhim Ajrash, Bloomberg
Iraq delayed an international auction of rights to 11 of its oil and natural gas deposits, pushing back the bidding date after introducing changes to…
Iraq: Podcast: What Happened to Iraq’s Oil Wealth? [Audio]
Apr 12, 2018
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Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch
What happened to Iraq’s oil wealth? That is the central question of the book: Pipe Dreams: The Plundering of Iraq’s Oil Wealth by guest Erin…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi MPs: Hashd al-Shaabi Smuggling Oil to Iran, Government Cannot Intervene
Apr 12, 2018
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Baxtiyar Goran, Kurdistan 24
The Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi has been smuggling crude oil from Kirkuk and using the revenue to strengthen itself amid silence from the Iraqi government, a…
Conflict Minerals: GRI and RMI Partner for Better Reporting on Conflict Minerals
Apr 11, 2018
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Global Reporting Initiative
GRI and the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) announced a project to help improve companies’ minerals sourcing due diligence and impact reporting by providing reporting resources and…
Colombia: 8 Police Killed in Attack on Land Restitution Commission in Northwest Colombia
Apr 11, 2018
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Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports
At least eight policemen were killed in an alleged paramilitary attack on a judicial commission investigating land theft in northwest Colombia. A bombs exploded when…
Colombia: Colombia Takes 'Unprecedented' Step to Stop Farms Gobbling Forests
Apr 11, 2018
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Anastasia Moloney, Reuters
Indigenous communities that depend on Colombia’s Amazon rainforest for their survival will have more say over their ancestral lands, as Colombia adds 8 million hectares…
Norway: Nazi Legacy Found in Norwegian Trees
Apr 11, 2018
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Jonathan Amos, BBC
The relentless campaign to find and sink Germany's WWII battleship, the Tirpitz, left its mark on the landscape that is evident even today. The German…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Temperature up by 2°C against Average
Apr 11, 2018
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Tamim Hamid, TOLOnews
Afghanistan Meteorological Department on Tuesday said this year the average temperature around the country has increased by about two degrees. According to the department, last week…
DRC: Six Virunga Park Rangers Killed in DRC Wildlife Sanctuary
Apr 10, 2018
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Jason Burke, Guardian
Five rangers and a driver have been killed in an ambush in Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A sixth ranger…
Afghanistan: Paktika Police Cutting down Pine Nut Trees, Say Residents
Apr 10, 2018
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Pajhwok Afghan News
Some residents in several districts of southeastern Paktika province have accused police of cutting down pine nuts trees, a charge the force denies. Speaking to…
Myanmar: Karen Land Rights Activist Shot Dead by Myanmar Army Near His Home
Apr 10, 2018
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Coconuts
Myanmar’s Karen community is mourning the loss of land rights and peace activist Saw O Moo, who was fatally shot by Myanmar troops near his…
Iraq: Iraqi Boat-Makers Struggle to Keep Their Trade Afloat
Apr 10, 2018
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Wassim Bassem, Al-Monitor
When Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi paid a visit to the Iraqi marshlands in September 2017, photos showed him on a mashoof, the traditional narrow…
Conflict Minerals: Blockchain: The Path to a More Transparent Mining Supply Chain?
Apr 9, 2018
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Heidi Vella, Mining Technology
Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records logged in a decentralised, immutable, cryptographically secured online ledger. All information recorded on the platform is peer-to-peer…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Top Iraq Court Set to Rule on Kurdistan Region's Oil Exports
Apr 9, 2018
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Reuters
Iraq’s top court will begin hearings in May on the legality of oil exports from Kurdistan, which are at the centre of a row between…
Afghanistan: As Conflict Spreads, Chronic Displacement becomes a Powderkeg in Afghanistan
Apr 9, 2018
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Ruchi Kumar, IRIN
Afghanistan’s Khogyani District is among hundreds of patchwork settlements that have proliferated throughout Afghanistan over the last five years, fed by a steady surge of…
Afghanistan: Govt Looks to Open Talc Processing Park in Nangarhar
Apr 8, 2018
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Zabihullah Jahanmal, TOLOnews
Officials from the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) on Sunday said that the High Economic Council has decided Nangarhar’s Sheikh Mesri Industrial Park…
Afghanistan: Ministry of Economy Tackles Value Chain to Boost Economy
Apr 7, 2018
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Zabiullah Jhanmal, TOLOnews
Afghan Ministry of Economy said it has started work on developing the value chain of 15 types of domestic products in order to boost the…
Colombia: Colombia's Top Court Orders Government to Protect Amazon Forest in Landmark Case
Apr 6, 2018
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Reuters
Colombia’s highest court has told the government it must take urgent action to protect its Amazon rainforest and stem rising deforestation, in what campaigners said…
Somalia: Climate Change Is Feeding Armed Conflict
Apr 6, 2018
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Giovanna Kuele and Ana Cristina Miola, Institute for Security Studies
Climate change feeds armed conflict in Somalia in three ways: by exacerbating tensions between clans; boosting the ranks and role of terrorist groups, including al-Shabaab;…
Conflict Minerals: Interview with the New State Dept. Advisor of Conflict Minerals
Apr 6, 2018
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Rob Bates, JCK
Pamela Fierst-Walsh, senior advisor on conflict minerals and U.S. representative to the Kimberley Process, took some time to speak with JCK yesterday. Here, she speaks…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam's Fishing ‘Militia’ to Defend Maritime Claims against China
Apr 6, 2018
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Ralph Jennings, Voice of America
Vietnam is quietly fostering a state-supported fishing boat militia to hold off China at sea even as the two sides talk formally about easing their…
Colombia: The Hanging Gardens of Colombia
Apr 6, 2018
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UNDP
To make good on commitments to reach the Nationally Determined Contributions outlined in the Paris Agreement on climate change, and to achieve the goals from…
India: Washim Water Wars: It’s Rural vs Urban as Villagers Oppose Dam Water Diversion to Towns
Apr 5, 2018
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Shishir Arya, Times of India
Water shortage has led to battle lines being drawn in Washim district. Summers are usually harsh, and this is a worse year. As dams are…
Liberia: EPA Requests Environmental Impact Assessment Report for President Weah’s Bali Island Project
Apr 5, 2018
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Henry Karmo, FrontPage Africa
The future of the “New Monrovia,” is one of five areas in Liberia under the Ramsar Convention that the government of Liberia is receiving funding…
Report: More People at Risk of Hunger Because of Conflict and Climate Change
Apr 5, 2018
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Stefan Jungcurt, International Institute for Susatainable Development
Conflict and climate change have pushed 124 million people in 51 countries into acute food security, a situation when the inability to consume adequate food…
Afghanistan: US Lost $60 Million on Afghan Power Project That Doesn't Work
Apr 4, 2018
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Nina Burleigh, Newsweek
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent $60 million trying to bring power to remote parts of Afghanistan, but has produced an unusable high…
Afghanistan: Why on Earth Would Canadian Mining Companies Want to Do Business in a War Zone?
Apr 4, 2018
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Saul Chernos, NOW
The last time Canadian mining companies showed an interest in Afghanistan, Canada had troops on the ground and the country was riddled with land mines.…
Afghanistan: In Rural Afghan War, Irrigation Water Is Tool
Apr 4, 2018
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Sharifullah Sharfat and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara
Government forces and insurgents are using access to irrigation water as leverage to pressure civilians into supporting them or force their opponents out of their…