International

South Sudan: South Sudan Oil Hopes Thwarted Once Again by Civil War

Jul 14, 2016 | Julianne Geiger, Oilprice.com

A month after announcing oil production would resume, Sudan's peace agreement is cracking. Five days of heavy fighting have forced tens of thousands of people,…

Liberia: Failure to Pass Land Law Could Plunge Liberia Back into Conflict: Activists

Jul 14, 2016 | Reuters

Liberia's failure to pass a long-awaited law recognizing the rights of rural communities to their ancestral lands could plunge the West African nation back into…

Conflict Minerals: Bill Passed in House Would Defund Conflict Minerals Rule

Jul 13, 2016 | Kelly Franklin, Chemical Watch

The US House of Representatives has passed an appropriations bill, containing an amendment that would defund enforcement of the nation’s conflict minerals reporting rule. Amendment…

Myanmar: Myanmar Cracks Down on Dams

Jul 13, 2016 | Prashanth Parameswaran, The Diplomat

No new irrigation dams will be built in Myanmar under the current government and spending on existing facilities will be halved given their questionable benefits…

China/South China Sea: China May Establish Air Defense Zone after Losing Court Ruling

Jul 13, 2016 | Katie Hunt and Steven Jiang, CNN

China said Wednesday it has the right to set up an air defense zone in the hotly disputed South China Sea, a day after a…

Colombia: As Colombia Peace Talks Advance, War Widows, Ex-Fighters Clear Landmines One at a Time

Jul 12, 2016 | Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation

In the surrounding rolling countryside guns have fallen silent and the bombing raids have stopped following a bilateral ceasefire signed in June between the government…

China/South China Sea: Tribunal Rejects Beijing’s Claims in South China Sea

Jul 12, 2016 | Jane Perlez, New York Times

An international tribunal in The Hague delivered a sweeping rebuke on Tuesday of China’s behavior in the South China Sea, including its construction of artificial…

DRC: DRC Declares First New National Park in 40 Years

Jul 12, 2016 | Morgan Erickson-Davis, Mongabay

Late last week, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government announced the creation of the country’s first new national park in more than four decades. Spanning…

Myanmar: Vice President Issues Farmers Temporary Land Ownership Documents

Jul 12, 2016 | Kyaw Ko Ko, Myanmar Times

The so-called Form 3 certificates were issued at a ceremony on July 9 in Madaya township, Mandalay Region, to allow 32 former owners to take…

South Sudan: South Sudan Oil Revenue Drops amid Renewed Conflict

Jul 12, 2016 | Oil Review Africa

South Sudan oil revenues have dropped by 75 per cent in June to US$60 million a month and the International Monetary Fund has warned of…

DRC: Gorillas Are Being Killed and Eaten by Miners in the Congo

Jul 12, 2016 | James Temperton, Wired

An endangered gorilla subspecies is being pushed towards extinction as mineral miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hunt it for bushmeat. Concerns have…

China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Sank Fishing Boat in the Disputed Region: Vietnam

Jul 12, 2016 | The Hindu

Vietnam has accused the Chinese coastguard of sinking a fishing boat near a disputed island chain, authorities said on Tuesday. Two Vietnamese boats were chased…

China/South China Sea: The Tribunal Renders its Award

Jul 12, 2016 | Permanent Court of Arbitration

A unanimous Award has been issued today by the Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea…

Afghanistan: An Unlikely Fight to Protect Nature in War-Torn Afghanistan

Jul 12, 2016 | Jenny Peng and Tamsin Walker, Deutsche Welle

War doesn't only destroy human lives, but also land and ecologies - and therefore livelihoods. Afghanistan is a case in point. Enter a woman with…

Myanmar: Re-launched Committee to Manage Water Resources

Jul 11, 2016 | Aye Sapay Phyu, Myanmar Times

U Htun Lwin Oo, director general of the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems, said the National Water Resources Committee abolished by…

Myanmar: Palm Oil Drive under Review in Tanintharyi

Jul 11, 2016 | Aye Nyein Win, Myanmar Times

A failing scheme to expand oil palm plantations in Myanmar’s southern Tanintharyi Region is under review, as the government hopes to concentrate on increasing yield…

Liberia: Liberia’s Forest in Danger- International Conservationists Alarm

Jul 11, 2016 | Front Page Africa

Several international conservationist have alarmed over a proposed plan by the Forestry development Authority (FDA) to develop a regulation to allow for forest destruction or…

Sierra Leone: Agriculture is the Future of the Artisanal Diamond Miner – Chairman Kono Diamond Dealers

Jul 11, 2016 | Awoko

Agriculture is the hope of the artisanal miners as diamonds are dwindling. It is now time to discuss with the people about diversification and on…

China/South China Sea: In a Chinese Port Town, South China Sea Dispute is Personal

Jul 11, 2016 | Anthony Kuhn, NPR

The atmosphere in Tanmen has become more tense since an international tribunal in the Hague announced that it would release a ruling on July 12…

Africa: The Nile Project: Resolving Conflict into Harmony

Jul 8, 2016 | Deutsche Welle

The Nile flows through 11 African nations and serves as key source of freshwater - but sharing this resource is politically tricky. A unique project…

Iraq: Email to Clinton: U.S. Pressured Iraq to Increase Oil Production “to Pay the Greatest Dividends”

Jul 8, 2016 | Ben Norton, Salon

A 2011 email to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shows how the U.S. pressured Iraq’s new allied government to increase oil production in order “to…

China/South China Sea: Will China Respect International Court’s South China Sea Decision?

Jul 8, 2016 | Michael D. Mosettig, PBS

From Beijing to Washington and all across Asia, eyes will be on an obscure tribunal in the Hague this coming Tuesday. The panel’s words could…

China/United States/South China Sea: China Warns U.S. on Sovereignty ahead of South China Sea Ruling

Jul 7, 2016 | Reuters

The United States should do nothing to harm China's sovereignty and security in the South China Sea, China's foreign minister told U.S. Secretary of State…

Myanmar: Farmers Fight to Mortgage Their Farmland

Jul 7, 2016 | Htin Linn Aung, Myanmar Times

Farmers and agricultural industry bodies are demanding that farmland is accepted as collateral for bank loans, but implementing such a system is fraught with problems.…

Iraq/United Kingdom/United States: US and Britain Wrangled over Iraq's Oil in Aftermath of War, Chilcot Shows

Jul 7, 2016 | Terry Macalister, Guardian

The US and British governments fought bitterly over control of Iraq’s oil following the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the Chilcot papers show. Tony Blair seemed…

Iraq/Islamic State: Satellite Photos Show Islamic State Installing Hundreds of Makeshift Oil Refineries to Offset Losses from Airstrikes

Jul 7, 2016 | Joby Warrick, Washington Post

With its refineries mostly destroyed and its tanker fleet under constant attack, the Islamic State is increasingly turning to low-tech alternatives for processing oil, a…

Climate, Conflict, and Commodities: The Calculus Of Peace on a Changing Planet

Jul 7, 2016 | Steve Zwick, Ecosystem Marketplace

More than half of all peace agreements fail within five years, often because they ignore the role of natural resources in driving conflict. Carbon finance…

Myanmar: Township Tells Farmers Not to Protest over Land

Jul 6, 2016 | Su Phyo Win, Myanmar Times

A group of farmers in Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu township are hoping for negotiations with the Southeast Asia Gas Pipeline (SEAGP) company, after being told by…

Iraq: Iraq Inquiry Shows Oil Was a Consideration for U.K. before War

Jul 6, 2016 | Javier Blas, Bloomberg

The U.K. government held talks with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc to ensure British energy companies were "well-placed to pick up contracts in…

Afghanistan: Rare Bactrian Deer Survives Years of Turmoil in Afghanistan

Jul 6, 2016 | Janet Lathrop, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Forty years of unrest in Afghanistan left wildlife ecologists uncertain whether one of the region’s rare sub-species of red deer, the Bactrian deer (Cervus elaphus…