International
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds Ready for New Oil Deal with Baghdad If They Get $1 Billion a Month
Jun 15, 2016
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Maher Chmaytelli and Isabel Coles, Reuters
Iraq's Kurds said they are ready to strike an agreement with the central government in Baghdad on a deal to increase oil exports if it…
Conflcit Minerals: European Union Reaches Outline Deal to Stem Flow of Conflict Minerals
Jun 15, 2016
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Barbara Lewis, Reuters
The European Union on Wednesday agreed an outline deal on a law to clean up the commodities supply chain, so importers will have to carry…
DRC: DRC Awards US$660 Million Contract for 240-MW Busanga Hydroelectric Project in Africa
Jun 15, 2016
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Gregory B. Poindexter, HydroWorld
After more than 10 years since signing agreements with companies in China and Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo announced on June 8 that it…
China/Japan/East China Sea: Chinese Spy Ship Enters Japan’s Territorial Waters for Second Time Since End of WWII
Jun 15, 2016
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Ayako Mie, Japan Times
A Chinese navy reconnaissance vessel entered Japanese territorial waters near Kuchinoerabu Island off Kagoshima Prefecture early Wednesday morning — the first time since 2004 that…
South Sudan: Fleeing Famine in Northern South Sudan
Jun 15, 2016
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Henry Wilkins, Al Jazeera
Kanjak is situated in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, a region of South Sudan close to the border with its neighbour Sudan. It has recently entered…
Myanmar: Probe into Gems Fund Leads to Calls for Chair’s Removal
Jun 14, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe and Hlaing Kyaw Soe, Myanmar Times
The probe into an alleged US$100 million gems fund heist has only become more convoluted with the addition of counter-investigations and infighting within the association…
Myanmar: Kawlin Residents Brace for More Disastrous, Record-High Floods
Jun 14, 2016
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Khin Wine Phyu Phyu, Myanmar Times
Ordinary flooding is inevitable. But what Kawlin expects is record floods. Last July and August, when 12 of the country’s 14 states and regions were…
Myanmar: Tree Planting Changes Life in Ancient Buddhist city of Myanmar
Jun 14, 2016
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Koh Byung-joon, Yonhap News Agency
A South Korean aid group came in with a long-term "tree planting" project whose main objective is to make the land green and enhance the…
Climate Change: Land Grabs Soar, Worsen Land Conflicts and Climate Change: Report
Jun 14, 2016
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teleSUR
Industrial agriculture and financial sectors are hand-in-hand worsening climate change and then profiting from it, with an unprecedented number of land grabs over the last…
DRC: China Firms to Fund Congo Hydro Power Plant to Lift Mining Output
Jun 14, 2016
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Reuters
China's Sinohydro and China Railway Group will finance a $660 million hydroelectric plant in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo which is being built to reduce…
Colombia: Two Hundred Indigenous U'wa Occupy Gas Plant in Colombia
Jun 14, 2016
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Charlie Satow, Intercontinental Cry
Two hundred Indigenous U'wa men, women, and children have occupied Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol's Gibraltar I gas plant south of the Colombia-Venezuela border in…
Iraq: Iraq Says IMF Deal "on Track" as Cabinet Approves Reform Package
Jun 13, 2016
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Maher Chmaytelli and Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters
Iraq has approved measures requested by the International Monetary Fund to unlock loans that should help the country overcome a cash crunch caused by declining…
Myanmar: Over-Extraction, Chinese Slowdown Blamed for Jade Price Slump
Jun 13, 2016
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Kyaw Hsu Mon, The Irrawaddy
With the government’s biannual gem emporium looming at the end of this month, prices for Burmese jade have continued to slide against weakening demand. Industry…
Conflict Minerals: Over 125 Civil Society Actors Call the EU to Tackle Conflict Minerals
Jun 13, 2016
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Amnesty International, Global Witness, and others
"Open letter to the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Member States of the European Union": Minerals are key components…
Côte d’Ivoire: Arbitrary Evictions in Protected Forests
Jun 13, 2016
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Human Rights Watch
Residents of Côte d’Ivoire’s protected forests live in fear of arbitrary evictions and have suffered extortion and physical abuse by forest conservation authorities, Human Rights…
Colombia: The Evolution of Coffee Culture in Colombia’s Coffee Region
Jun 12, 2016
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Erin Donaldson, Colombia Reports
While growing coffee has been a major part of the economy of Pereira and the surrounding coffee region, drinking one of Colombia’s most iconic export…
Colombia: Colombian Government Gives in to Agriculture Subsidies
Jun 10, 2016
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Julian Villabona, PanAm Post
Since May 29, agrarian unemployment in Colombia has become a problem again similar to the spike of 2013. Rural and indigenous community members took to the…
When the State Wilts Away
Jun 9, 2016
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Lois Parshley, Bloomberg Businessweek
In weak nations, environmental stress can tip society into catastrophe. Venezuela was unraveling even before Hugo Chávez died in 2013. The situation has only gotten worse…
Myanmar: New Commission Formed to Investigate Alleged Gems Association Embezzlement
Jun 9, 2016
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Htet Nain Zaw, The Irrawaddy
A new investigation commission will be formed to look into the Myanmar Gems Traders Association’s financial scandal, involving allegations of more than US$100 million that…
Myanmar: Hunting Endangered Animals in the Jungles of Myanmar
Jun 9, 2016
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Katie Arnold, Al Jazeera
The Asiatic black bear, characterised by the white crescent that adorns its chest, is a globally threatened species that roams a vast territory stretching from…
Climate Change: NATO Secretary General: “Climate Change is Also a Security Threat”
Jun 9, 2016
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Shiloh Fetzek, The Center for Climate & Security
In advance of the NATO Summit Warsaw in July, the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg sat down for an interview with POLITICO Europe. When…
Myanmar: Team Investigating Missing Gem Funds Submits Report to Myanmar Government
Jun 9, 2016
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Radio Free Asia
A team investigating the disappearance of nearly U.S. $100 million in funds belonging to a gem association submitted its findings on Wednesday to Myanmar's minister…
Colombia: Colombia Rural Strike Stands Strong as Police Repression Mounts [Photos]
Jun 9, 2016
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teleSUR
Tens of thousands of peasants, rural workers, and Indigenous people in Colombia have been fighting against massive land inequality and privatization decrees, as well as…
Côte d’Ivoire: Ivory Coast Land Disputes Threaten New Violence as War Refugees Return
Jun 9, 2016
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Joe Bavier, Reuters
A post-war economic recovery has made Ivory Coast the darling of investors in Africa. But as refugees from the war trickle back - around 16,000…
India/Pakistan/Kashmir: Kashmir: A Water War in the Making?
Jun 9, 2016
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Baba Umar, The Diplomat
Today Pakistan and India are locked in a bitter water conflict. Though diplomatic exertions have prevented a major escalation, both countries are entangled in legal…
Nigeria: Nigeria Delta Avengers Say Oil Rich Region Could Break Away
Jun 9, 2016
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TV360Nigeria
A Nigerian militant group, which has claimed a string of attacks on oil pipelines in the Niger Delta, said on Thursday the region might break…
China/Japan/East China Sea: A First: Chinese Naval Vessel Enters Senkaku Contiguous Zone in East China Sea
Jun 9, 2016
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Ankit Panda, Diplomat
Early on Thursday, a Chinese Navy frigate entered the contiguous zone adjacent to the 12 nautical mile Japanese territorial sea around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands…
DRC: Congo Mining Sector Sheds 3000 Direct Jobs since Last Year- Chamber
Jun 8, 2016
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Aaron Ross, Reuters
Democratic Republic of Congo's mining sector has lost at least 3,000 direct and 10,000 subcontractor jobs since commodity prices began to tumble last year, the…
Rwanda: "Feminine" Virtues Blamed for Unequal Land Rights in Rwanda, Research Shows
Jun 8, 2016
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Anna Pujol-Mazzini, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Female "silence and submissiveness" continue to be valued feminine traits in Rwanda, stopping women from taking advantage of equal land and property laws, researchers said.
Afghanistan: Afghan Security Forces Deploy to Prevent Illegal Mining
Jun 8, 2016
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Rahim Faiez, Associated Press
Afghan authorities are deploying security forces to ensure that insurgents fighting to overthrow the government do not benefit from illegal mining, an official said on…