International


Colombia: Deforestation in Colombia up 44% in 2016: Report

Jul 7, 2017 | Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports

Deforestation in Colombia went up 44% in 2016 compared to the year before, newspaper El Tiempo reported on Thursday. Based on statistics provided by the…


Afghanistan/Iran: Afghans Stage Rare Anti-Iran Rally, Denounce Iran's Rouhani

Jul 7, 2017 | Ayaz Gul, Voice of America

Residents and civil society activists staged a protest Friday in southern Afghanistan to denounce neighboring Iran's President Hassan Rouhani for criticizing Afghan water management and…


Colombia: Land Reform and Food Security Key to Peace in Colombia: FAO

Jul 6, 2017 | teleSUR

Peace in Colombia depends on the ability for the government to progress with land reform and rural development initiatives, the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO,…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdish Leader Says No Turning back on Independence Bid

Jul 6, 2017 | Samia Nakhoul, Maher Chmaytelli, and Stephen Kalin, Reuters

Iraq's Kurdish leader said on Thursday that there was no turning back on a bid to achieve an independent Kurdish state, but he would pursue…


Afghanistan/India: Coordination Needed with India, Afghanistan to Mitigate Flood Threat

Jul 6, 2017 | Dawn

All the relevant authorities looking at ways to mitigate and counter flood threats have stressed the need for improved coordination with India and Afghanistan regarding…


Myanmar: UN Body Provides New Farming Techniques for Myanmar to Address Climate Change

Jul 5, 2017 | Xinhua

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is providing new farming techniques for Myanmar as part of a project to address climate change risk on water…


Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Drills for Oil in South China Sea

Jul 5, 2017 | Bill Hayton, BBC

Vietnam has begun drilling for oil in an area of the resource-rich South China Sea also claimed by China. An oil industry consultant told the…


Sudan/South Sudan: UN Force in Abyei Returns Stolen Cattle to Pastoralists

Jul 5, 2017 | Dabanga

The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei handed-over dozens of stolen animals back to the pastoralist groups, following incidents of cattle theft between the…


Colombia: Rural Development as a Path to Peace in Colombia is an Example for the World

Jul 5, 2017 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Colombia’s progress in using rural development as a tool to clinch peace after more than half a century of civil war can “fill the entire…


Colombia: From Palenque to the Buenaventura Strike: The Long-Standing Battle of Afro-Colombians

Jul 5, 2017 | Nazaret Castro, Equal Times

Colombia’s Afro-descendant population, largely concentrated in the Pacific and Caribbean regions, has perhaps been the worst victim of the displacements and the massacres perpetrated by…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iran Criticism of Afghan Dam Projects Draws Rebuke from Kabul Officials

Jul 5, 2017 | Noor Zahid, Voice of America

Afghan officials reacted strongly to recent remarks by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani concerning water management and irrigation projects in Afghanistan. Speaking at an international conference…


DRC: In DRC, Women Challenge Custom to Assert Legal Right to Inherit Land

Jul 5, 2017 | Esther Nsapu, News Deeply

Traditionally, women in the DRC gained shares in property through marriage, not inheritance – and today, few realize that this custom contradicts the law. In…


South Sudan: Gold Trade is Unexpected Winner in Failed South Sudan’s Peace Deal

Jul 5, 2017 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

After South Sudan’s peace deal collapsed, gun battles rocked the capital and soldiers ransacked his clothing store, Ahmed al-Nur faced the economic crisis in a…


Iran: Iran Fears Tension over Water Shortage, Holds Neighboring Countries Responsible for Crisis

Jul 4, 2017 | Adel Al-Salmi, Asharq Al Awsat

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani asked neighboring countries to collaborate to address the region’s water shortages and said environmental issues require planning would not be resolved…


South Sudan: Economic Chaos Fuels Gold Mining Rush in Africa's Newest Nation

Jul 4, 2017 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

After South Sudan’s peace deal collapsed, gun battles rocked the capital and soldiers ransacked his clothing store, Ahmed al-Nur faced the economic crisis in a trade…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iranian President Voices Concerns Regarding Dams Construction in Afghanistan

Jul 4, 2017 | Khaama Press

The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has voiced concerns as the Afghan government plans to build more dams in a bid to regulate the waters for…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Canadian Court Orders Seizure of Kurdish Oil Tanker

Jul 3, 2017 | Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com

A Halifax court issued last week a warrant for the seizure of an oil tanker that holds crude oil from Kurdistan, which was last spotted…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s ‘Sea Gypsies’ Threatened by Dynamite Fishing and Drugs

Jul 3, 2017 | Agence France-Presse

Until recently the sea provided the Moken with everything they needed: a base for boats they lived in, fish and seafood to eat and bounty…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Tanker with Kurdish Oil Seen in Waters Near Canada/US East Coast

Jul 1, 2017 | Rudaw

An oil tanker carrying crude oil from the Kurdistan Region that went off track and was allegedly heading to the US over a week ago…


Myanmar: Jade Stones on Way to China Seized at Yaypu Checkpoint

Jun 30, 2017 | Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times

Jade stones which were about to be smuggled into China were seized from a truck that was on forest track leading to Theinni from Lashio. After…


Myanmar: Over 1000 Mandalay Farmers Protest Land Seizure, Suits

Jun 30, 2017 | Kyaw Ko Ko, Myanmar Times

More than 1000 farmers in the Mandalay Region staged a protest against what they described as unfair lawsuits filed against them pertaining to seized land.…


North Korea/South Korea: Water Issue Can Escalate Inter-Korean Tension

Jun 29, 2017 | Kim Se-jeong, Korea Times

Climate change is creating water scarcity around the world, and Korea is not an exception, especially considering inter-Korean relations. "If North Korea releases water from…


Climate Change: House Lawmakers back Amendment Requiring Pentagon Climate Change Report

Jun 28, 2017 | Ellen Mitchell, Hill

The House Armed Services Committee’s annual defense policy bill will include a provision requiring a Defense Department report on the effects of climate change on military…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Baghdad Threatens Legal Action against KRG over Authorized Exports

Jun 27, 2017 | Zainab Calcuttawala, OilPrice.com

Two weeks after a 700,000-barrel tanker named Neverland reportedly began its journey towards the U.S. East Coast, Baghdad declared its readiness to challenge the legal…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish Independence: '800,000 bpd of Crude Needed to Oil Statecraft

Jun 27, 2017 | Jijo Jacob, International Business Times

Kurdistan is a state in the birth throes. Almost 30 million Kurds in countries such as Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran hope to be a…


Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: What's behind the Resumed Vietnam-Philippines South China Sea Activity?

Jun 27, 2017 | Prashanth Parameswaran, Diplomat

On June 22, Vietnam and the Philippines conducted the third iteration of their naval personnel interactions on Southwest Cay in the Spratly Islands in the…


Colombia: In Rural Colombia, Waging Peace by Safeguarding Water

Jun 26, 2017 | María Paula Rubiano, El Espectador

Fundamor's plot of land has a stream, the Quebrada la Fría, that feeds the Mandivá River, which in turns supplies 11 districts further down. The…


Myanmar: Burmese Roofed Turtle Threatened by Water Pollution

Jun 26, 2017 | Ma Pe Nyein, Eleven

The Burmese roofed turtle is an endangered endemic species known only to live in the Ayeyawady, Chindwin, Sitaung, and lower Thanlwin rivers, where it was…


CAR: Global Witness Warns of CAR Diamond Smuggling

Jun 26, 2017 | Joshua Freedman, Diamonds.net

A representative from the organization posed undercover as a diamond trader to gain “unprecedented access” to those involved in smuggling diamonds out of CAR, it…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Faces New Oil Dispute with China after Beijing Cuts Visit Short

Jun 26, 2017 | Ralph Jennings, Voice of America

China and Vietnam face a stiff new test in avoiding a showdown over undersea oil drilling after Beijing cut short a high-level meeting last week,…