International


Colombia: Colombia City Combines Gardening and Hip Hop to Revive Community

Jun 1, 2016 | Dylan Lebecki, Global Voices

“Seeds of the Future” demonstrates how organized projects are capable of creating and sustaining alternative communities where victimization and social invisibility have dominated in the past.


Afghanistan: In Afghanistan, the Taliban isn’t the Only Group Battling for Land

May 31, 2016 | Antonio Olivo, Washington Post

Amid the city’s swirling winds, construction crews work steadily to create a new downtown strip that, someday, will include high-rise office towers and thousands of…


Afghanistan: Adrift in Their Own Land, Afghanistan's Displaced See Their Population Swell

May 31, 2016 | Ali M. Latifi, Los Angeles Times

A newly released Amnesty International report has found a “staggering” increase in the number of Afghans driven from their homes by the deepening unrest, political…


Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi Urged to Halt Norwegian Backed Dam in Shan State

May 31, 2016 | BNI, Mizzima

The three groups behind the statement, the Shan Human Rights Foundation, the Shan Sapawa Environmental Organisation and the Shan State Farmers’ Network, say they are…


DRC: How New Doc 'Merci Congo' Sheds Light on Deadly Conflict

May 31, 2016 | Alex Suskind, Rolling Stone

Chronicle of African nation's ongoing civil war shows how corporate entities and everyday people are helping the healing to begin.


Myanmar: Cyclone Roanu Fails to Fill Inle Lake

May 30, 2016 | Eleven Myanmar

Although rain fell around Inle Lake in southern Shan State in the last week of May due to the effects from Cyclone Roanu, the lake…


Sierra Leone: FAO convenes the Second VGGT Learning Programme on Land Tenure

May 30, 2016 | Awoko

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has concluded four days Learning Programme on Governing Land for Women and Men, to Support…


Myanmar: KNU Wants Government Recognition of Ethnic Communities and Armed Groups’ Land Ownership Policies

May 30, 2016 | Burma News International

Karen National Union leaders has called for respective state and regional governments to recognized land rights and policies that are already in place for decades…


Myanmar: Fallen Timber, Uneasy Officials

May 30, 2016 | Mratt Kyaw Thu, Frontier

As conservationists welcome reports that the government is considering a one-year national logging ban, sections of the timber industry have been preparing for such a…


Why Water Scarcity is a Bigger Threat to Pakistan's Security than Militancy

May 30, 2016 | Shamil Shams, DW

Pakistan is facing an acute water shortage and may run dry by 2025, according to a latest study. Experts say the water scarcity is also…


Afghanistan: The Opium Farmers with the Police on Their Side

May 29, 2016 | Justin Rowlatt, BBC News

This year, Afghanistan is expected to produce more opium than the world consumes. Although billions of dollars have been spent trying to eradicate the crop,…


DRC: The Paradox of Congo: How the World’s Wealthiest Country Became Home to the World’s Poorest People

May 28, 2016 | Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, ThinkProgress

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the vast majority of people live in extreme poverty, earning only around $400 a year. The country is…


Myanmar: Fearing Extreme Weather, Farmers Scale Back Rice Cultivation

May 28, 2016 | Phyo Thiha Cho, Myanmar Now

The Irrawaddy Delta is home to millions of subsistence farmers whose income and food security relies on their annual harvest, and to a lesser extent…


DRC: Making Congo’s Mines Conflict Free [Video]

May 28, 2016 | BBC News

Since 2012, Outlook Inspirations nominee Bandi Mbubi has been campaigning for an end to the use of conflict minerals. The eastern part of the Democratic…


Myanmar: Peace Park Proposed for Karen State

May 28, 2016 | Libby Hogan, DVB

The creation of a peace park protecting endangered animals and the natural environment of Mutraw District in Karen State was proposed this week.


Myanmar: Lake Drying up in Myanmar [Video]

May 27, 2016 | Tony Cheng, China Central Television

Inle, the second largest lake in Myanmar, has suffered from unprecedented low water levels after record temperatures and low rainfall during the past year. The…


South Sudan: Army Major Arrested Allegedly Smuggling Ivory

May 27, 2016 | Jason Patinkin, Associated Press

South Sudan authorities arrested an army major and a Chinese oil worker for allegedly trafficking elephant ivory and endangered pangolin meat through the country's Paloich…


Myanmar: Isolated Kachin Villages Face Food Shortages Due to Rain

May 27, 2016 | Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times

Non-stop rain in northern Kachin State has led to food shortages as damaged infrastructure has made remote townships unreachable, MPs told parliament yesterday. Over 6000…


Colombia: Large Land Owners Seek to Tighten Grip on Land Stolen from Colombia’s Displaced Farmers

May 27, 2016 | Thomas Graham, Colombia Reports

Senators with ties to large landowners have proposed a change to the Colombia’s Victims Law that would make it much harder for displaced farmers to reclaim land…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iranian, Afghan Environment Chiefs Discuss Hamoun Lake Preservation

May 27, 2016 | Tehran Times

The chief of Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE) and the director general of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) discussed issues related to Hamoun Lake…


Liberia: Dangerous Path in Monrovia: Flood Disaster Put Pipeline Community at Risk

May 26, 2016 | Willie N. Tokpah, FrontPageAfrica

Flood disaster has caused serious impediment for residents in the Montserrado County densely populated Community of Pipeline stalling the movement of vehicles and inhabitants living…


Myamar: Can the New Government Protect Myanmar’s Water Resources?

May 26, 2016 | Ashok Manandhar, Myanmar Times

In the last days of former president U Thein Sein’s reign, the National Water Resources Committee was disbanded and has yet to be replaced. This…


Afghanistan: Taliban Instability Could Fuel Opium Trade

May 26, 2016 | Justin Rowlatt, BBC News

Mullah Mansour, Afghan Taliban leader and the commander of a militia of thousands of men, died a lonely death. US President Barack Obama described his…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Why Kurdistan Can't Sell Its Oil

May 26, 2016 | Seth J. Frantzman, National Interest

In an interview published in February 2015, Donnie Macdonald, the president of oil giant Chevron’s operations in Iraq, had glowing praise for the Kurdistan autonomous…


Companies File Conflict Minerals: Third Round of Conflict Minerals Reports, SEC, Government Agencies Must Follow through

May 26, 2016 | Enough Project

May 31st marks the third annual deadline for electronics, manufacturing, and other companies to file conflict minerals reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),…


South Sudan: Oil-Infrastructure Damage Cuts Output Further in South Sudan

May 26, 2016 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

Oil output in South Sudan declined to as little as 120,000 barrels per day because of damage caused by a 2 1/2-year civil war to…


Liberia: Liberia Grand Jury Indicts Sable Mining, Officials for Bribery

May 26, 2016 | James Harding Giahyue, Reuters

A grand jury in Liberia on Wednesday indicted government officials, including the speaker of parliament and the head of the ruling party, along with London…


Colombia: Colombia Using Just 35% of Its Agricultural Land: Report

May 25, 2016 | Stephen Gill, Colombia Reports

65% of Colombia’s farmland is not used or underused, according to a government report published Tuesday. The Unit of Rural Agro-economic Planning (UPRA), which was given…


Myanmar: Myanmar Government to Return Seized Land to Farmers in Sagaing Region

May 25, 2016 | Radio Free Asia

Myanmar’s government plans to return 2,500 acres of confiscated land to farmers in Tant-Se township in the country’s northwestern Sagaing region, more than 35 years…


Liberia: Explanation of Vote at the Adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2288 on Liberia Sanctions Termination

May 25, 2016 | United States Mission to the United Nations

Remarks by Ambassador David Pressman: Thank you, Mr. President. As we terminate these sanctions today, it is worth recalling how far Liberia has come. Today…