International
Myanmar: 134 Mining Blocks to Expire this Month
Mar 7, 2017
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
The Myanma Gems Enterprise under the Ministry of Resources and Environmental Conservation announced that a total of 134 authorised mining blocks in the country’s gemstone…
Afghanistan/Iran: Afghanistan Refuses to Supply Iran with Water Share of Hirmand
Mar 6, 2017
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Tasnim News Agency
In a move in violation of a 1973 treaty with Iran, Afghanistan has refused to supply its neighbor with share of water from the Hirmand…
South Sudan: South Sudan Grants Oranto Permit to Explore `Vast' Oil Block
Mar 6, 2017
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Okech Francis, Bloomberg
South Sudan’s government said it granted Oranto Petroleum International Ltd. a license to explore for oil in a block covering three states in the East…
South Sudan: UNEP Warns of Increasing Floods, Droughts in Parts of South Sudan
Mar 6, 2017
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Radio Tamazuj
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that natural disasters such as floods and droughts have increased in recent days in parts of Jonglei,…
Iran/Iraq: Iraq and Iran Agree to Resolve Dispute on Joint Oil Fields
Mar 5, 2017
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Sara al-Qaher, Al-Monitor
On Feb. 20, the Iraqi Oil Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian Oil Ministry to settle disputes over the joint oil fields and…
Liberia: FDA, Communities Sign Community Forest Management Agreement
Mar 3, 2017
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Gloria T. Tamba, Daily Observer
The Peoples Rules and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (USAID/PROSPER), in partnership with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), recently signed a community forest…
Colombia: Another Indigenous Human Rights Activist Killed in Colombia
Mar 3, 2017
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teleSUR
Colombian Indigenous and campesino leader Alicia Lopez Guisao was killed in Medellin on Thursday, adding to the growing list of recently murdered human rights activists in…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kirkuk Oil Flows in Jeopardy again as Kurdish Tensions Grow
Mar 3, 2017
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Reuters
Iraq's Kurdistan is facing growing tensions between its government and the key opposition faction, which briefly disrupted oil flows from the semi-autonomous region this week…
Food Security: Hunger Persists in Chronic Conflict Zones Despite Strong Global Harvests – UN
Mar 2, 2017
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UN
Despite robust food supply conditions, droughts are worsening food security across swathes of East Africa, and access to food has been dramatically reduced in areas…
Uganda: Museveni: There Is No Reason for Conflict over River Nile
Mar 2, 2017
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Nigeria Today
President Yoweri Museveni has said Uganda has not yet ratified the “Nile Agreement” on the use of the River Nile, as it is pursuing a…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kirkuk Oil Exports at Risk as Kurds Seize Pump Station
Mar 2, 2017
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Khalid Al Ansary, Kadhim Ajrash, and Sam Wilkin, Bloomberg
Iraqi oil shipments of about 105,000 barrels a day were halted briefly on Thursday after Kurdish troops seized control of a pumping station in disputed…
Myanmar: Forest Department Investigates Sizeable Seizures of Smuggled Timber
Mar 1, 2017
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Htun Htun, Irrawaddy
The forest department has launched an internal investigation in response to sizeable seizures of smuggled timber since late January. On Jan. 24, authorities seized more…
Iran/Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds, Turkmen Concerned about Iran-Iraq Kirkuk Oil Deal
Mar 1, 2017
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Baxtiyar Goran, Kurdistan24
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Turkmen of Kirkuk are concerned about the Iran-Iraq deal to export Kirkuk oil to Iran. On Tuesday, Falah…
Bolivia/Ecuador/Peru: As Water Scarcity Deepens across Latin America, Political Instability Grows
Mar 1, 2017
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John Vidal, Guardian
Other Latin American countries are also experiencing renewed water conflicts as climate change affects rainfalls while mining and agribusiness demand more. In Chile, the first…
Afghanistan: Afghan Capital's Thirsty Residents Dig Deep to Combat Drought, Overuse
Feb 28, 2017
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Sayed Hassib, Reuters
A growing population is straining water supplies in Afghanistan's capital, forcing those who can afford it to dig unregulated wells ever deeper to tap a…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Exclusive: Iraq's Kurdistan Negotiates New Terms, Raises Oil Pre-Payments to $3 Billion
Feb 28, 2017
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Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters
Iraq's Kurdistan has increased the loans guaranteed by future oil sales to $3 billion in new deals with trading houses and Russian state oil firm…
Colombia: Colombian Indigenous Community Fight to Protect Land from Paramilitary Resurgence
Feb 28, 2017
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Julián Villabona Galarza, PanAm Post
The Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta in Colombia’s northern region is home to multiple indigenous communities living peacefully on sacred land. But the Arhuaco people there were…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Four Bombs Blast Oil Pipeline In Iraq
Feb 27, 2017
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Irina Slav, Oil Price
Four bombs detonated at an oil pipeline in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, killing one and injuring three members of the Kurdish security forces. At the time…
Liberia: Liberia Revenue Authority Investigates Logging Companies for US$25 million in Unpaid Taxes
Feb 26, 2017
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Gbatemah Senah, Bush Chicken
The Liberia Revenue Authority says it is investigating a Global Witness’ report that logging companies in the country owe US$$25 million in unpaid taxes. The…
South Sudan: Famine-Hit South Sudanese Eat Weeds and Water Lilies to Survive
Feb 26, 2017
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Reuters
Last week the United Nations declared that parts of South Sudan are experiencing famine, the first time the world has faced such a catastrophe in…
Afghanistan: Taliban Leader Urges Afghans to Plant More Trees
Feb 26, 2017
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BBC
The leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has urged Afghans to plant more trees. In a statement, he called on civilians and fighters…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Bombs Target Oil Pipeline in Iraq's Kirkuk, One Killed
Feb 25, 2017
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Reuters
Four bombs went off on Saturday near a minor pipeline from an oilfield close to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, security and oil industry…
South Sudan: South Sudan Launched the National Adaptation Programme of Actions (NAPA) for Climate Change
Feb 25, 2017
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UNEP
Over one hundred and twenty people representing national, regional, international institutions including national and state governments, donors, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, and media houses witnessed…
Colombia: Medellin Takes to Urban Farming to Heal Memories of War
Feb 24, 2017
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Richard Kelleher, Colombia Reports
Parts of Colombia’s second largest urban center, Medellin, have taken to the most rural activity possible, agriculture, in an attempt to recognize the memories of war while…
Ethiopia/South Sudan: Ethiopia and South Sudan Agree to Construct Oil Route
Feb 24, 2017
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Sudan Tribune
President Salva Kiir and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn have agreed to build a road linking the two countries enabling South Sudan to export its oil…
Conflict Minerals: SEC Says Conflict Minerals, Pay Ratio Rules Remain in Force
Feb 24, 2017
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Tatyana Shumsky, Wall Street Journal
Companies must continue to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules on disclosing “conflict minerals” and the ratio comparing executive pay to the median…
Conflict Minerals: Conflict Minerals Compliance Costs Drop by 45%
Feb 24, 2017
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CNW
The average cost of the compliance of section 1502 for SEC issuers has dropped by 45% over the past three years. The average cost for…
Conflict Minerals: Why Apple and Intel Don’t Want to See the Conflict Minerals Rule Rolled back
Feb 23, 2017
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Todd C. Frankel, Washington Post
Apple doesn’t want to see it scrapped. Neither does Intel or Tiffany & Co. But the U.S. conflict minerals law — which requires American public…
Conflict Minerals: USA: 100 Investors Express Continued Support for Conflict Minerals Due Diligence Requirement under Dodd Frank Act
Feb 23, 2017
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Boston Common Asset Management, Interfath Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Mercy Investment Services, Responsible Sourcing Network, Trillium Asset Management, US SIF, and other investors
As investors and investor groups with over $3.75 trillion in assets under management, we are writing to express our continued support for Section 1502 of…
Ethiopia/South Sudan: Ethiopia Mulls Road to Import Oil from War-Torn South Sudan
Feb 23, 2017
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Nizar Manek, Bloomberg
Ethiopia may finance a road linking it with South Sudan’s largest oilfields, allowing the war-ravaged country to sell its neighbor fuel produced at a planned…