International
Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Wells Set on Fire by ISIS Are Still Burning Four Months after the Terror Group Torched Them... and the Soot has Turned Mosul’s Sheep Black
Dec 23, 2016
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Gareth Davies, Daily Mail
ISIS set fire to oil wells before the Qayyarah area was recaptured by Iraqi forces in August, and these have burned for months, turning sheep…
Conflict Minerals: State Department Signals Interest in How Tech Companies Address Abuses in Cobalt Supply Chain
Dec 23, 2016
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Todd C. Frankel, Washington Post
The U.S. government is taking an increased interest in how American technology companies plan to address human rights abuses in Congo’s cobalt mines, according to a…
India/Pakistan: Are India and Pakistan Set for Water Wars?
Dec 22, 2016
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Navin Singh Khadka, BBC
India is stepping up efforts to maximise its water use from the western rivers of the Indus basin, senior officials have told the BBC. Experts…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq’s Kirkuk Province Ready to Cut Oil Output amid OPEC Deal
Dec 22, 2016
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Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg
Iraq’s oil-rich Kirkuk province, under the protection of the nation’s Kurds since 2014, said it’s willing to reduce crude production if required to meet the…
Myanmar: Gov’t Continues to Pay Land Compensation for Letpadaungtaung Project
Dec 22, 2016
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Soe Min Htike, Eleven
The government will pay compensation for land grabbing at the Letpadauntaung project and will also persuade recipients to accept compensation, says Ohn Win, Union Minister…
Afghanistan: Saffron Cultivation Hits Record High in Afghanistan
Dec 22, 2016
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TOLO News
The increase in saffron production is a result of continued technical, financial and training support provided by MAIL to Afghan farmers, according to the Minister…
Iraq: Iraq Gets $1.5 bln Loan to Cope with Low Oil Price, ISIS
Dec 21, 2016
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Reuters
The World Bank has approved a new loan of $1.485 billion to help Iraq lessen the impact of low oil prices on its economy and…
Sudan/South Sudan: Sudan, South Sudan Reach Deal on Oil Financial Arrangements
Dec 21, 2016
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South Sudan News Agency
Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to extend oil financial arrangements after days of tough negotiations. The new agreement is extended for three years and…
Myanmar: New Government ‘Powerless’ to Overhaul Rampant Land Grabbing in Northern Myanmar
Dec 19, 2016
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Jack Board, Channel News Asia
In rural northern Myanmar, land is everything. Yet in Kachin, there is little balance between the meagre and the mighty. Over decades of civil conflict…
Liberia: First Forest Atlas for Liberia Launched
Dec 19, 2016
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J. Burgess Carter, Daily Observer
The international resource organization, World Resource Institute and the Forestry Development Authority recently launched the first Forest Atlas for Liberia to promote sustainable forest management…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Women Farmers Demonstrate Agriculture Can Recover after War
Dec 19, 2016
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Sarina Locke, ABC News
An aid project in Afghanistan helps enterprising women to multiply grain seeds for cropping, share vegetable seeds and breed better goats. So far the work…
Myanmar: Murder in Myanmar
Dec 19, 2016
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Beth Walker, Third Pole
A Burmese journalist was found dead on December 13 while investigating illegal logging and wood smuggling near Monywa, in the Sagaing region of Northwest Myanmar,…
India/Pakistan: No End in Sight in Water Row between India and Pakistan
Dec 18, 2016
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Aamir Latif, Anadolu Agency
A simmering water dispute between India and Pakistan seems to be turning towards another boiling point as both sides continue to stick to their guns…
DRC: As President Joseph Kabila Digs in, Tensions Rise in Congo
Dec 17, 2016
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Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times
Recent troves of documents shared with The New York Times — whose authenticity has been verified by current and former Congolese officials — reveal a…
Afghanistan: China Gets an All-Clear from the Taliban to Mine for Copper in Afghanistan
Dec 16, 2016
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Mariam Amini, CNBC
The Taliban say they're giving China the green light to restart a $3 billion mining project, but Afghanistan's legal government says the militant group is…
China/South China Sea: China Seizes U.S. Underwater Drone in South China Sea
Dec 16, 2016
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Phil Stewart, CNBC
A Chinese warship has seized an underwater drone deployed by a U.S. oceanographic vessel in the South China Sea, triggering a formal diplomatic protest and…
Myanmar: When Selling is More Lucrative Than Protecting: Myanma Timber Enterprise and the Deforestation Crisis
Dec 16, 2016
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Samuel Schlaefli, Myanmar Times
For years, Myanmar’s state-owned timber giant has been subject to accusations of corruption and shadowy closed-door dealings. Environmental advocacy groups have long blamed Myanma Timber…
Afghanistan: Taliban Says Ok for China to Develop Huge Afghan Copper Mine
Dec 16, 2016
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Andrew Topf, Mining.com
A promise by the Taliban to safeguard the world's second largest untapped copper deposit is being downplayed by the sitting government of Afghanistan. In a statement…
Food Security: Ongoing Conflicts Continue to Intensify Food Insecurity
Dec 16, 2016
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Military News
Civil conflict and weather-related shocks have severely stressed food security in 2016, increasing the number of countries in need of food assistance, according to a…
Colombia: Peace Can Transform Colombia into Breadbasket for World, President Says
Dec 15, 2016
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Alex Whiting, Reuters
Curbing poverty and hunger in rural areas is crucial to building lasting peace in Colombia and in turn will help the nation become a breadbasket…
Myanmar: Another Victim of Illegal Logging and Forest Crime?
Dec 14, 2016
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Environmental Investigation Agency
Illegal logging in Myanmar is more than the issue of cutting trees – it is an umbrella issue which underlines the absence of good governance…
Myanmar: Parliamentary Commission Calls for New Water Law
Dec 14, 2016
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Htoo Thant , Myanmar Times
Already feeling the combined stresses of climate change and an increasing population, Myanmar’s clean water needs to be protected by a national water policy, parliament…
Myanmar: Forestry Industry Hopes Hyacinth Can Save Trees, Create Jobs
Dec 14, 2016
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Su Phyo Win, Myanmar Times
A shortage of skilled labour and low profits are preventing local businesses from making use of one of the country’s most abundant and versatile renewable…
Myanmar: Commission Suggests New Water Tax
Dec 14, 2016
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Eleven
The legal affairs and special cases assessment commission suggested that the government collect a new rate of water tax from factories, workshops and agricultural businesses…
Lebanon: FAO Opens Lebanon Office to Boost Conflict-Hit Food Supplies
Dec 14, 2016
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RJ Whitehead, Food Navigator Asia
The director-general of the Food and Agriculture office of the United Nations has blamed conflicts in the Middle East for a doubling of undernourished people…
Myanmar: Karen People Call for a Peace Park Instead of Big Hydropower in Their Homeland
Dec 14, 2016
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Demelza Stokes, Mongabay
The Salween Peace Park would set aside a 5,200 square kilometer (around 2,000 square miles) swathe of Myanmar’s southeastern Karen state as an indigenous Karen-led…
Afghanistan: Afghan Villagers Learn Sustainable Irrigation Practices through On-Farm Water Management Project
Dec 14, 2016
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World Bank
With a $25 million grant from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), OFWMP works to improve agricultural productivity in project areas by enhancing the efficiency…
Myanmar: Illegal Farmland Sales Prompt Calls for Action
Dec 13, 2016
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Zay Yar Linn, Myanmar Times
The Myanmar Real Estate Services Association wants the government to crack down on the illegal sale of farmland for residential development. U Than Oo, vice…
Colombia: FAO, World Bank to Support Land Reform in Colombia
Dec 13, 2016
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Wangu Mwangi, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Following the signing of a peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), the Food and Agriculture Organization…
Iraq: Iraq to Abide by OPEC Cut, Expects Output Growth in Future
Dec 12, 2016
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Rania El Gamal, Reuters
Iraq is committed to cutting its production to comply with a global pact to support prices, the country's oil minister said, adding he was nevertheless…