International


Afghanistan: Water Supply Maintenance Provides Short-Term Jobs in Karmalik Village

Apr 17, 2017 | World Bank

Shiny new pipelines connect the water storage tank to the tanker parked beside the main road of Karmalik village. The tanker provides sufficient drinking water…


Myanmar: Oil Pipeline to Myanmar ‘at Risk from Rebels’

Apr 16, 2017 | Kristin Huang, South China Morning Post

Although a crude-oil pipeline from Myanmar to China is finally running, its operations still face serious risks from the conflict in northern Myanmar, observers said.…


South Sudan: Kiir Signs Suspicious Oil Agreements to Turn Around Fortunes of Economy

Apr 15, 2017 | Julius Barigaba, East African

The South Sudanese government is signing deals with suspected wheelerdealers, some of whom may be out to take advantage of Juba's financial crisis. In less…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan Plans Water Treaty with Afghanistan

Apr 13, 2017 | S. Mudassir Ali Shah, Pajhwok Afghan News

Afghan and Pakistani experts are expected to meet soon to exchange water data and the hydrology of Kabul and Kunar rivers, a news report said…


Timor-Leste: As Maritime Agreement with Australia Dissolves, Timor-Leste Left Exposed

Apr 13, 2017 | Maciej Heyman, MilTech

On 10 April this year, the 2006 Certain Maritime Agreement on the Timor Sea (CMATS) was terminated. CMATS was an agreement between Australia and Timor-Leste…


Conflict Minerals: Apple, Intel Carry on as SEC Relaxes Conflict Minerals Scrutiny

Apr 13, 2017 | Andrea Vittorio, Securities Law Daily

Relaxed regulatory scrutiny won’t stop companies like Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. from reporting as usual next month about efforts to keep minerals that fund…


China/Myanmar: New Myanmar Oil Pipeline Bolsters China's Energy Security

Apr 13, 2017 | Wataru Kodaka and Yuichi Nitta, Nikkei

The opening of an oil pipeline through Myanmar is a big step forward for China's energy security, reducing the major importer's reliance on shipments through waters where the…


Landmines: Glowing Bacteria Offer Hope for Safe Detection of 100m Landmines

Apr 13, 2017 | Peter Beaumont, Guardian

A team of researchers at an Israeli university has successfully tested a technology using fluorescent bacteria and lasers that could become a safer system for…


Myanmar: Rescuing Myanmar’s Farmers from the Debt Trap

Apr 12, 2017 | Economist

Many farmers borrow to cover planting costs, buy equipment or purchase land, and repay after the harvest. Under the junta that isolated Myanmar for decades,…


Afghanistan: Strongmen, Locals Cutting down Kunduz Forests

Apr 12, 2017 | Bashir Ahmad Naadim, Pajhwok Afghan News

Residents and officials say they are worried about illegal cutting down of forest trees in northern Kunduz province, asking the government to stop the practice.…


Liberia: Impact Assessment Concluded for 120MW Hydro Project

Apr 10, 2017 | ESI Africa

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded a meeting with residents of Grand Bassa and Bong Counties on the environmental and social impact of…


Afghanistan: Afghan Demining Program under Threat over Budget Deficit

Apr 10, 2017 | Gulabudin Ghubar, TOLOnews

Wais Ahmad Barmak, Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, on Monday said that the demining program in Afghanistan is under threat following the drop in…


Iraq: Land Grabs in Iraq

Apr 10, 2017 | Vera Mironova and Mohammed Hussein, Foreign Affairs

With the fall of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) seemingly imminent, nearly every Iraqi political group and its associated militia have been rushing…


China/Myanmar: China Says Accord Reached at Last with Myanmar on Oil Pipeline

Apr 10, 2017 | Christian Shepherd, Reuters

China and Myanmar have reached an agreement on an oil pipeline between the neighbouring countries after almost a decade of talks, with the project due…


Afghanistan: Continued Militancy, Poverty Push Afghan Farmers to Grow Poppy

Apr 9, 2017 | Abdul Haleem and Abdul Aziz Safdari, XInhua

A former stronghold of Taliban and the hotbed of the armed militants currently, the troubled Helmand province been the scene of fierce fighting between government…


Liberia: Liberia, EU Sign Agreement to Strengthen Forestry Sector

Apr 9, 2017 | FrontPageAfrica

The agreement was signed by Ambassador Tina Intelmann, Head of the European Union delegation and Sister Mary Laurene Browne, Chair of the Board of Directors…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Only 25 Are Kurds out of 1000 Employed by Baghdad in Kirkuk Oil Fields, Official

Apr 8, 2017 | Rudaw

Of the nearly 1,000 people who were recently employed by the Iraqi North Oil Company (NOC) in Kirkuk, only 25 are Kurdish, displaying Baghdad’s increasing…


Liberia: Green Advocates Train Liberian Communities on Alternative Recourse Mechanism

Apr 8, 2017 | FrontPageAfrica

Local communities have protested the presence of large scale mining and agricultural companies like Golden Veroleum Liberia, Sime Darby and ArcelorMittal Liberia in Nimba County…


Myanmar: Yangon Pilot Project Slashes Water Losses, Says Manila Company

Apr 7, 2017 | Frontier Myanmar

A Philippine company says it has slashed water system losses in two Yangon townships under a pilot project conducted in partnership with the Yangon City…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Tries to Win Trump Support with Lithium

Apr 6, 2017 | Associated Press

The Afghan government is trying to grab the attention of President Donald Trump and gain greater U.S. support by dangling its massive and untouched wealth…


Afghanistan: China's Plan to Mine for Copper Beneath an Ancient City Gets Thrown off by Corruption Charges

Apr 6, 2017 | Mariam Amini, CNBC

A controversial Chinese copper mine in Afghanistan has run into complications after the executive leading the $3 billion project was expelled from the Chinese Communist…


Myanmar: A Group of Divers is Saving Myanmar’s Marine Wildlife from Deadly Ghost Nets

Apr 5, 2017 | Jacob Goldberg, Coconuts

Myanmar’s underwater earthscape may be relatively untouched by tourism, but it is steadily becoming a trash receptacle for local fishers. In fact, these two circumstances…


Myanmar: China May Scrap Divisive Dam in Myanmar to Advance Other Interests: Sources

Apr 5, 2017 | Yimou Lee and Shwe Yee Saw Myint, Reuters

China has shifted its position in a lengthy dispute with Myanmar over the building of a $3.6 billion dam, seven sources said, signaling its willingness…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Obliterating ISIS May Hamper Iraqi Oil Production

Apr 5, 2017 | Nick Cunningham, OilPrice.com

Iraq’s oil production could fall involuntarily if a dispute between the central government and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) continues to escalate. Some of the…


Iraq: Desert on Fire [Photos]

Apr 5, 2017 | Namak Khoshnaw and Daniel Silas Adamson, BBC

Early in summer 2016, the so-called Islamic State set fire to one of Iraq’s largest oil fields. It has taken Iraqi firefighters 10 months to…


Iraq: Clean Water for Conflict-Affected Iraqis near Mosul

Apr 5, 2017 | Danish Refugee Council

In March 2017, as Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) advanced west from the outskirts of Mosul towards the Quba Pump Station on the bank of the…


Afghanistan: Canal Project Turns Wastelands into Farmlands in Northern Afghanistan

Apr 4, 2017 | Military Technologies

The rehabilitation of Sharqi canal has revived many areas of wasteland and turned them into productive farmland, irrigating over 13,000 hectares. Besides the new canal…


Iraq: The Oil Fires in Qayyarah Are Out

Apr 4, 2017 | Earth Observatory

Several oil fires that have burned in northern Iraq for months have been extinguished. NASA satellites first detected fires at one or two wells near…


Colombia: Warnings but No Action Preceded Deadly Flood in Colombia

Apr 4, 2017 | Ben Fox and Alba Tobella, Associated Press

People were caught off guard when a devastating flash flood surged through a small city in southern Colombia, but not everyone was surprised. Government agencies,…


Colombia: 500 Colombian Towns Face Landslide Risk

Apr 4, 2017 | Brigitte Leoni, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

More than 500 municipalities are currently at risk of landslides, according to Mr. Omar Franco, Director of the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies…