International


Myanmar: Tatmadaw Insists Landmine Use Kept within Reasonable Minimum

Sep 13, 2016 | Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times

The Tatmadaw continues to produce and use landmines, deputy defence minister Major General Myint Nwe told parliament yesterday, emphasising that this activity was kept to…


India: Why Water War Has Broken out in India's Silicon Valley

Sep 13, 2016 | BBC

Violence has broken out in India's technology hub Bangalore in Karnataka state over a long-running dispute about water. Protesters are angry at a Supreme Court…


Afghanistan: Snow Leopards' Return Brings Hope to Remote Afghan Region

Sep 12, 2016 | Associated Press

In a picturesque corner of Afghanistan, a unique conservation effort has helped bring the elusive snow leopard back from the brink and given hope to…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Wants You to Come See its Snow Leopards

Sep 12, 2016 | Jess McHugh, Travel + Leisure

The return of snow leopards to one of the poorest and most isolated regions of Afghanistan has been hailed as a victory for tourist professionals…


Myanmar: Hungry for Power, Myanmar Bets on Hydro in New Energy Plan

Sep 11, 2016 | Shwe Yee Saw Myint and Antoni Slodkowski, Reuters

Electricity-starved Myanmar is looking to overhaul its long-term power strategy, aiming to hike the planned share of hydropower in its energy mix at the cost…


Libya: Libyan Rebels Loyal to Khalifa Haftar Seize Key Oil Facilities

Sep 11, 2016 | Heba Saleh, Financial Times

Forces under the command of General Khalifa Haftar, a renegade general in eastern Libya, say they have seized control of key oil export facilities, dealing…


Iraq: Baghdad Wants Back All Oilfields that Fell to Kurds During ISIS War

Sep 10, 2016 | Rudaw

Iraq's ministry of oil says that it intends to retake full control of all Kirkuk oil fields that fell to the Peshmerga during the war…


Myanmar: Is Yearly Flooding the New Normal?

Sep 9, 2016 | Hein Ko Soe, Fronteir

Environmentalists and activists told Frontier that they believed there were two factors driving more regular flooding. The first is man-made climate change. Myanmar’s National Adaptation…


Myanmar: Jade Companies Threaten to Sue Trespassing Prospectors

Sep 9, 2016 | Kyaw Hsu Mon, Irrawaddy

Jade mining companies in upper Burma have threatened to sue jade prospectors taking small stones from dumping areas, in an announcement made by Sagaing Division…


Iraq: Trump’s Illegal, Impossible, and ‘Beyond Goofy’ Idea of Seizing Iraq’s Oil

Sep 9, 2016 | Steven Mufson, Washington Post

The United States can’t just walk off with Iraq’s oil when it decides to get out. In 2015, Iraq produced about 4 million barrels a…


Nature Protection Mulled as Path for Peace

Sep 9, 2016 | SciDev.Net

The United Nations and other peacekeeping bodies should include an element of environmental protection and research in their efforts to pacify warring nations, a conference…


Myanmar: Thanlwin Dams Only Benefit China: Activists

Sep 8, 2016 | Eleven Myanmar

Chinese-sponsored dam projects on the Thanlwin River are unacceptable because of their environmental impact while the benefits will go to China and Thailand, activists from…


Colombia: Owner of Land Where FARC is Set to Demobilize Assassinated

Sep 8, 2016 | Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports

The owner of a plot of land in southwest Colombia that was designated to host a concentration camp for demobilizing and disarming FARC guerrillas has been assassinated, her…


Liberia: Low Income, Adaptive Capacity Makes Liberia Vulnerable to Climate Change

Sep 8, 2016 | Henry Karmo, FrontPageAfrica

Recently, Liberia has experienced pest infestation in Bong County and rainstorms in several parts of the country as well as flood in Monrovia and its…


Myanmar: The Lost Forests of Myanmar [Photos]

Sep 7, 2016 | Ledger Independent

These hills were once so thick with trees that condemned criminals were sent here to die. Today, illegal logging has left only a handful of…


Liberia: Liberian Speaker's Resignation Enhances Land Bill Approval, Reducing Land Rights Protests but 2017 Electoral Unrest Risk Remains

Sep 7, 2016 | Corinne Archer, IHS Jane's Intelligence Weekly

Liberia's speaker of the house, Alex Tyler, formerly of the ruling Unity Party, stepped down on 1 September over his alleged role in a corruption…


Myanmar: More Timber Found on Military Research Compound

Sep 7, 2016 | Si Thu Lwin, Myanmar Times

Another 11 tonnes of illegal timber was confiscated from a former wood factory within a forest area cordoned off for military research on September 1,…


Myanmar: Collapsed Dam Destroys Homes in Mon State

Sep 7, 2016 | Eleven Myanmar

A dam collapsed in Aung Thukha Ward, Kyaikkhami, Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State, on September 2, causing several homes to flood.


Iraq: Iraq Puts out More Oil Fires at Northern Field, Some Still Burning

Sep 6, 2016 | Reuters

Iraq has put out fires at six more oil wells in the Qayyara region, which Iraqi forces recaptured from Islamic State late last month, but…


Liberia: New US$4M Slaughter House Revamps Meat Value Chain

Sep 5, 2016 | Omari Jackson, Liberian Observer

The proprietors of the newly established Careysburg Slaughter House envision a revamped meat industry marked by the highest safety quality standards and an enhanced value…


Colombia: Colombia’s War Has Displaced 7 Million. With Peace, Will They Go Home?

Sep 5, 2016 | Nick Miroff, Washington Post

In the nation with more internal refugees than any other, you won’t find the uprooted and the dispossessed huddled in tent camps or fleeing in…


Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste Backing Oil Development before Hague Ruling

Sep 3, 2016 | Hamish McDonald, Saturday Paper

Timor-Leste’s government has insisted that gas and oil from the discovery called Greater Sunrise be brought for processing to Timor’s coast. Timor-Leste has stepped up…


Iraq: Oil Fires in Iraq Seen from above [Photos]

Sep 3, 2016 | Nathan Yau, Flowing Data

On August 17, 2016, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired an image of dense smoke plumes roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) south…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Zebari: Erbil-Baghdad Will Equally Share Oil Export Revenues

Sep 3, 2016 | Rudaw

Iraqi Finance Minister Hosyar Zebari said Saturday that revenues from a recent oil accord between Baghdad and Erbil are to be shared equally, adding that “a very…


Myanmar: Myanmar Forest-Cutting Continues Despite Government Efforts

Sep 2, 2016 | Esther Htusane, Associated Press

The hills of northern Myanmar's Sagaing region were so legendarily thick with forests that in the days of kings, condemned criminals were ordered into the…


Conflict Minerals: Can Blockchain Help Curb the Flow of Blood Diamonds?

Sep 2, 2016 | Prableen Bajpai, Nasdaq

The more precious the asset, the higher the probability of people committing crime to gain a share in it. Diamonds are no exception. The $80…


Iraq: This Oil Fire in Iraq Has Been Burning for 3 Months

Sep 2, 2016 | Marisa Gertz, Time

NASA’s Landsat 8 satellite first captured images of the black smoke plumes south of Mosul in early June. Since then, the fire has steadily continued…


Myanmar: Over 300 Jade Mining Permits to Expire This Month

Sep 1, 2016 | Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times

Permits for 321 jade and gems blocks will expire in September, the government has said, and will not be renewed, under an industry-wide freeze on…


DRC: The Population of Shabunda Deserve to Benefit from Their Own Country’s Mineral Wealth

Sep 1, 2016 | Mining Journal

The demands from the minister, Martin Kabwelulu, came after a Global Witness investigation showed up to US$17 million of gold produced by privately held Kun…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq, Kurdistan Jointly Export Kirkuk Oil Again: Trading Sources

Sep 1, 2016 | Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters

Iraqi state oil firm SOMO and Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan have begun jointly exporting crude from the giant Kirkuk oilfield again after cutting a…