International
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…
Liberia: Unlawful Killings: ECOWAS Court Urged to Compel Liberia Govt. to Pay 500 Families $200m
Feb 23, 2017
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Nigerian Tribune
A Non-Governmental Organisation, the Concerned Youth of Ganta for Reconstruction and Development, and a Liberian citizen have sued the Republic of Liberia at the ECOWAS…
Myanmar: Motion Raised to Allow Lands Owned by Non-Nationals in Rakhine to Be Seized and Given to Citizens
Feb 23, 2017
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Mizzima
Rakhine State Legislative Assembly legislator Aung Win from Myaybon constituency (2) said that he would raise a motion at the Rakhine State assembly to take…
Myanmar: Water-Bird Population Falling Rapidly: Fauna & Flora
Feb 22, 2017
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Hsan Htoo Aung, Eleven
The water-bird population native to the Ayeyawady River has been reduced by between 60-90 per cent over the past 14 years, with bird catching and…
Afghanistan: How Neglect and Remoteness Bred Insurgency and a Poppy Boom: The Story of Badghis
Feb 22, 2017
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Jelena Bjelica, Afghanistan Analysts Network
An unprecedented increase in opium poppy cultivation has been documented in Badghis for 2016, a remote western province that is largely underreported – even more…
Myanmar: Myanmar Makes Record Seizures of Illegal Timber
Feb 22, 2017
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Malay Mail
Myanmar seized a record amount of illegal timber this financial year as part of a government clampdown to protect the country’s rapidly disappearing forests, a…
Myanmar: Myanmar Villagers Demand Land Compensation from Copper Mine Operator
Feb 21, 2017
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Radio Free Asia
About 100 residents from the town of Letpadaung protested on Tuesday against the Chinese company that operates a controversial copper mine in northwestern Myanmar’s Sagaing…
South Sudan: Famine in South Sudan as Oil Revenues Remain Elusive
Feb 21, 2017
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Damir Kaletovic, Oil Price
The South Sudanese government and three humanitarian agencies have declared a famine in some parts of the country as the newly independent nation struggle to…
Sudan/South Sudan: South Sudan Risks Losing Oil-Rich Abyei
Feb 21, 2017
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Fred Oluoch, East African
South Sudan risks losing the disputed oil-rich region of Abyei with internal strife taking most of its attention as Khartoum moves to entrench its administration…
Myanmar: EU-Standard Forestry Agreement to Be Set up
Feb 20, 2017
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Si Thu Lwin, Myanmar Times
Forestry staff, relevant government personnel, environmental conservation groups and timber entrepreneurs met in Mandalay on February 15 for a workshop to discuss the processes involved…
Uganda: Uganda Launches Gold Refinery, amid Fears of Dirty Minerals
Feb 20, 2017
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Associated Press
A gold refinery primarily owned by a Belgian investor was launched in Uganda Monday amid concerns about the source of its minerals. The African Gold…
Climate Change: Patricia Espinosa: “The Climate Change Story Is a Security Story” - Address at Munich Security Conference
Feb 18, 2017
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UN
At the annual Munich Security Conference, the UN’s top climate change official UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa gave an opening address at a discussion on…