International
Myanmar: Report: Burma Rapidly Losing Forest Cover
May 19, 2017
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Irrawaddy
Satellite imagery indicates that intact forest cover in Burma has declined rapidly over the last decade, according to a study. A countrywide analysis of Landsat…
Myanmar: Mandalay Division Govt Takes Tough Line on Illegal Logging
May 19, 2017
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Myat Pyae Phyo, Irrawaddy
Mandalay Division government will crack down on illegal logging in the area, said division minister for planning and finance U Myat Thu. The divisional government…
Colombia: Rebel Road Expansion Brings Deforestation to Remote Colombian Amazon
May 19, 2017
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Taran Volckhausen, Mongabay
Encouraged by the Colombian peace process promising infrastructure advancement across the country, local citizens and municipal governments of Miraflores and Guaviare have started construction to expand…
Morrocco/Western Sahara: Morocco Phosphate Ship Held in Panama over Western Sahara challenge: Officials
May 18, 2017
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Patrick Markey, Reuters
Panama authorities have detained a Moroccan phosphate shipment from the disputed territory of Western Sahara after the Polisario independence movement claimed the cargo had been…
Myanmar: Screening Cancelled of Film Showing Army’s Role in Jade Trade
May 17, 2017
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Irrawaddy
The screening of a new documentary showing Burma’s jade industry as a driving force behind the country’s armed conflict was cancelled on Wednesday after Park…
Myanmar: Myanmar's Extensive Forests Are Declining Rapidly Due to Political and Economic Change
May 17, 2017
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Phys.org
Due to its long political and economic isolation, Myanmar has retained much of its original forest cover but much of the intact forest is unprotected…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Deploys Anti-Diver Rocket Launchers to Man-Made Island in South China Sea: Report
May 17, 2017
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Jesse Johnson, Japan Times
China has deployed anti-frogmen rocket launchers intended to fend off Vietnamese intrusions on one of its man-made islands in the contested South China Sea, Chinese…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi official: Kurdish Black Forces at North Oil Company Seek ‘Political’ Gains
May 17, 2017
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Rudaw
Iraq’s oil ministry has stated that the Black Force units deployed to the Kirkuk’s state-run oil company in early March are seeking “political” gains and…
Nigeria: The Water Wars in Northeast Nigeria
May 17, 2017
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Ahmad Salkida, Sahara Reporters
In northern parts of Borno and Yobe, the raging water scarcity has led to the creation of new "water culture." The Lake Chad region is…
Myanmar: Startling Photos Capture Myanmar’s $31 Billion Jade Mining Industry [Photos]
May 17, 2017
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Laura Mallonee, Wired
The rolling hills of Kachin state in northern Myanmar hold the finest jade in all the world. The best stones command hundreds of thousands of dollars…
Myanmar: As Myanmar Democratizes, Women’s Rights Lag Behind
May 16, 2017
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Mike Ives, New York Times
Change is coming to Myanmar as it transitions to democracy. But when it comes to protecting women from violence, the needle has barely budged. Myanmar…
Making the Environment an Ally for Peace: Q&A with Erik Solheim
May 15, 2017
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Jimena Leiva Roesch, IPI GLobal Observatory
Policymakers need to better connect environmental management with respect for other important social values, according to United Nations Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim, who highlighted…
Myanmar: New Documentary Sheds Light on Link between Gems and War in Myanmar
May 15, 2017
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Euan Black, Globe
Produced by the UK-based NGO Global Witness, ‘Jade and the Generals’ follows the group’s undercover investigation in 2015, which revealed the gem trade to be…
Myanmar: 80 Myanmar and Thai NGOs Condemn Legal Action over Tanintharyi Tin Mine Report
May 15, 2017
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Frontier Myanmar
Eighty NGOs, including 56 from Myanmar, have condemned a Thai company’s decision to sue a reporter with Bangkok’s Nation newspaper over a report about a…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China, Vietnam Agree to Keep South China Sea Tensions in Check
May 15, 2017
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Reuters
China and Vietnam will manage and properly control their maritime disputes, avoiding actions to complicate or widen them, so as to maintain peace in the…
Sudan/South Sudan: UN Gives Sudan and South Sudan 6 Months for Abyei Monitoring
May 15, 2017
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Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press
The U.N. Security Council agreed unanimously late Monday that the stalemate between Sudan and South Sudan over the status of the oil-rich region of Abyei…
Afghanistan: Land-Grabbing Still in Practice in Logar
May 15, 2017
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Abdul Maqsud Azizi, Pajhwok
Tens of thousands of acres of land has been usurped by powerful individuals and ordinary people in central Logar province, a practice still ongoing, officials…
Myanmar: The Struggle to Save Arakan’s Mangroves
May 13, 2017
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Myanmar Now
Until fairly recently, the residents of Kan Ngu, a coastal village in southern Arakan State, considered the mangroves in their area simply as another source…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Rejects $7.77m Bid for 709-Carat Diamond, Seeks Higher Offer
May 12, 2017
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Agence France-Presse
Sierra Leone’s government said Thursday it would seek higher offers in Belgium for a massive 709-carat diamond found by an Evangelical preacher after underwhelming offers…
Afghanistan: Resettling Nearly Half a Million Afghans in Nangrahar: The Consequences of the Mass Return of Refugees
May 12, 2017
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Fazal Muzhary, Afghanistan Analysts Network
Most of the 600,000 Afghans who returned from Pakistan last year chose to settle in the eastern border province of Nangrahar. This has put considerable…
Myanmar: River Conservation for 179 Rivers with a K4.4 Billion
May 12, 2017
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Pyae Thet Phyo, Myanmar Times
River conservation works for 179 rivers in the country will be conducted in 2018 using K 4.4 billion of the Union Budget. Department of Water…
Afghanistan: Is There Still Hope for China, Afghanistan’s Long-Stalled US$3 Billion Copper Mining Deal?
May 12, 2017
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Laura Zhou, South China Morning Post
Efforts are being made to resolve a stalled copper mining deal between China and Afghanistan, a decade after the US$3 billion contract was signed, according…
Myanmar: Land Rights Major Risk for EU-Myanmar IPA
May 12, 2017
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Thompson Chau, Myanmar Times
On the Myanmar side, the report recommends fully transparent and systematic consultation on policies, laws and secondary regulation by the Directorate of Investment and Company…
Bangladesh: Chittagong Hill Tracts: Special Forces Prevent Delegation from Conducting Land-Grabbing Research
May 12, 2017
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Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
An investigative delegation to Bandarban was blocked by security officials and a team comprised of journalists, human rights advocates and civil society actors were prevented…
Iraq: Iraqis Dig Their Own Wells in Battle-Scarred Mosul
May 12, 2017
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Ahmed Aboulenein, Reuters
The families start queuing every day near the well in Mosul's Karaj al-Shamal neighborhood, filling their large plastic containers with sulphurous, nearly undrinkable water. As…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Says Has "Positive" Talks with Vietnam on South China Sea
May 11, 2017
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Reuters
The leaders of China and Vietnam had "positive" talks about the disputed South China Sea on Thursday with neither side criticising the other, a senior…
Liberia: Setting the Stage for Peaceful Co-Existence in Concession Communities
May 11, 2017
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New Dawn
Affected Communities in concession areas have resolved to maintain a peaceful and harmonious relationship with concession companies operating within their Counties. Representatives from project affected…
Colombia: Farmers of Almost 34% of Colombia’s Coca Agree to Change Crops: Report
May 10, 2017
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Stephen Gill, Colombia Reports
Farmers that grow almost 34% of Colombia’s coca have agreed to take part in a government program to replace their illicit crops with a legal alternative,…
Colombia: Colombia Police Shoot Indigenous People during Land Ceremony
May 10, 2017
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teleSUR
Colombia’s Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, announced in a press release on Tuesday that recent police aggression involving a firearm resulted in…
DRC: Cobalt-Mining Boys Given Hope - but Many Still Suffer [Video]
May 10, 2017
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Alex Crawford, Sky News
Sky News has found children continue to work long hours in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - months after multinational corporations…