International
Afghanistan: Could New Poppy Strain Be Boosting Afghanistan's Opium Crop?
Mar 16, 2017
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Gul Ahmad Ehsan, Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Karam Khan, an opium poppy farmer from Helmand, is delighted that business is booming. New strains of seeds mean that poppy could be sewn and…
Myanmar: Battling for Blood Jade
Mar 15, 2017
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Hannah Beech, Time
While conflict diamonds have yielded Hollywood scripts and rap lyrics, jade has largely escaped international scrutiny. Last October, then U.S. President Barack Obama lifted sanctions…
Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste Could Be 'Architect of Its Own Demise', Gas Treaty Inquiry Told
Mar 15, 2017
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Australian Associated Press
Timor-Leste’s decision to rip up a treaty with Australia on the carve-up of future revenue from Greater Sunrise oil and gas reserve in the Timor…
Russia/US: Trump's Russian Connections May Kill 'Peace Park'
Mar 15, 2017
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Corbin Hiar, E&E News
With increased scrutiny of the Trump administration's possible ties to the Kremlin, a long-running National Park Service effort to promote cultural and scientific connections between…
Liberia: Chief Justice Korpkor Vows to Protect Property Rights in Liberia
Mar 15, 2017
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FrontPageAfrica
Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor says the Supreme Court has taken steps to protect the property right of citizens and has therefore warned judges of…
Colombia: Colombia's Coca Production Soars to Highest Level in Two Decades, US Says
Mar 14, 2017
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Associated Press
Coca production in Colombia has surged to levels unseen in two decades of US eradication efforts, according to a new White House report. Cultivation of…
Afghanistan: Funding Terrorism: Taliban Earns $15M a Year from Pistachios in Afghanistan
Mar 14, 2017
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John Walsh, International Business Times
The Taliban has earned $15 million annually from pistachio crops in the Afghanistan's northwestern Kushki Kuhna District. The terror group profited from the region’s two…
Uganda: General Angina Orders Arrest of UPDF Captain over Land Grabbing
Mar 13, 2017
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The Monitor
The deputy coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Lt Gen. Charles Angina has ordered the arrest of the OWC coordinator for Mbarara Municipality, Captain David…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Intrepid Skiers Break New Ground
Mar 13, 2017
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Will Coldwell, Guardian
In January, Untamed Borders ran what was “probably the first ever commercial ski trip” to the country, taking a group of six intrepid travellers to…
EU: 2017 Anti-Corruption Focus on Mines, Security, Courts
Mar 12, 2017
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Tamim Hamid, TOLOnews
The European Union’s anti-corruption drive for 2017 in Afghanistan will focus on key sectors such as the illegal extraction of minerals from mines and corruption…
Afghanistan: To Interest Trump, Afghanistan Dangles Investment Opportunity
Mar 12, 2017
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Michael Crowley, Politico
When Donald Trump said in late January that America should have “kept the oil” after invading Iraq — “To the victor go the spoils,” he…
Conflict Minerals: Mining Companies Have Dug Themselves out of a Hole
Mar 11, 2017
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Economist
For mining investors there is something sinfully alluring about Glencore, an Anglo-Swiss metals conglomerate. It is the world’s biggest exporter of coal, a singularly unfashionable…
Myanmar: Water-Saving Tech, Vegetable Gardens Grow Hope in Myanmar's Dry Zone
Mar 10, 2017
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Thin Lei Win, Reuters
Myanmar recently emerged from decades of military dictatorship only to face a bigger existential threat. The Dry Zone, an area comprising 58 townships in Mandalay,…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Baghdad-Erbil Oil Disputes on Hold until Mosul Liberation
Mar 9, 2017
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Al-Monitor
Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi, speaking to Al-Monitor during a visit to the United States to meet with US government officials and energy executives, addressed…
Myanmar: Conservationists: Myanmar Wildlife Sanctuary under Threat from China-Backed Dam
Mar 9, 2017
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Ron Corben, Voice of America
Conservationists are calling for support to protect a major wildlife sanctuary in Myanmar’s northern Karen state they say is threatened by a China-financed dam on…
DRC: Dispute over DRC Mining Licence Goes to Court
Mar 8, 2017
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BizCommunity
In a modern-day version of claim jumping a Mauritius-registered private resources investment firm is seeking legal redress against an Australian-listed junior resources company over contested…
Conflict Minerals: Apple Pledges to Treat Congolese Cobalt as a Conflict Mineral amid Reports of Child Labor
Mar 8, 2017
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Jennier McKevitt, Supply Chain Dive
Apple's supply chain woes continue as its attempts to abide by ethical sourcing standards falter in the wake of ongoing abuses in the cobalt mineral…
Myanmar: Government to Return Land to Farmers
Mar 7, 2017
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Min Thant and Htay Hla Aung, Eleven
Dr Soe Than, regional minister for agriculture, livestock and irrigation, said: “We’re assessing the land. It shouldn’t take long. Within this year we will be…
Afghanistan: Enhancing the Success of Afghanistan’s Women Farmers
Mar 7, 2017
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International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
Against the odds, a new agricultural outreach model targeting rural women is taking shape in Afghanistan – and delivering on its promise of empowerment, greater…
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…