International
Myanmar: Year-Long Ban on Myanmar’s Logging Trade Kindles Hope for Forests
Aug 17, 2016
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Ping Manongdo, Eco-Business
Myanmar has enacted a national logging ban for one year and a 10-year logging ban in the Pegu Yoma region to protect the country’s vastly…
Colombia: Fracking Operations Spur Violence and Unrest in South Colombia
Aug 17, 2016
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Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports
Protests were reported in El Doncello, El Paujil, Morelia and Valparaiso where thousands of locals reportedly took to the streets to demand action that would…
Myanmar: MP Accuses Militia of Aiding Chinese Timber Smugglers in Puta-o
Aug 17, 2016
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Swan Ye Htut, Myanmar Times
Smuggling of valuable timber in northern Kachin State has reduced forest cover in some areas by up to 80 percent, say local officials. They blame…
Myanmar: Massive Dam Project at Center of China-Myanmar Talks
Aug 17, 2016
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Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press
Efforts by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week to bolster ties with her country's dominant northern neighbor China may hinge on whether she…
Haiti: U.N. Admits Role in Cholera Epidemic in Haiti
Aug 17, 2016
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Jonathan M. Katz, New York Times
For the first time since a cholera epidemic believed to be imported by United Nations peacekeepers began killing thousands of Haitians nearly six years ago,…
Myanmar: Farmers Seek Reform of Seized Lands Scrutiny
Aug 16, 2016
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Nay Aung, Myanmar Times
Villagers in Magwe Region’s Sinbaungwe township are calling for the reconstitution of committees in the township tasked with resolving seized land claims, saying their current…
Myanmar: Seized Timber under Military Microscope in Pyin Oo Lwin
Aug 16, 2016
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Si Thu Lwin, Myanmar Times
The Tatmadaw is responsible for taking action in a case involving more than 300 tonnes of illegally harvested timber in Pyin Oo Lwin township, Mandalay…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Division among Iraq's Shabak Minority Reveals Kurdish-Arab Land Rivalry
Aug 16, 2016
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Saad Salloum, Al-Monitor
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced Aug. 10 the end of the first and second phases of the Mosul liberation operations. Since the third and last phase will…
Iraq/Kurdistan: In Kurdistan, Beekeepers Sweeten Lives as Business Flourishes
Aug 15, 2016
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Rawa Abdulla, Rudaw
Although the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources does not have specific data about the number of bees, beekeepers and their…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Oil Minister Sees End to Kurd Dispute as War Hurts Output
Aug 15, 2016
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Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg
Jabbar al-Luaibi, the former head of Iraq’s biggest crude producer who was appointed oil minister on Monday, said that he sees ways to resolve the…
Syria: SDF Burn Properties Records in Manbij
Aug 15, 2016
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Baladi
Private sources confirmed to Baladi News that Syria’s Democratic Forces (SDF) burned the property records division in the court of Manbij (3rd Story) after capturing…
Still Sick 25 Years after the Gulf War, a Vet Seeks Answers — and the Minneapolis VA May Have Them
Aug 14, 2016
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Jeremy Olson, Star Tribune
Today, researchers at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center are leading a wave of studies to solve the mystery of Gulf War Illness, a cluster of…
India: Global Warming Making Siachen Riskier for Soldiers
Aug 14, 2016
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Press Trust of India
Climate change is making the life of the soldiers posted in the world's highest and arduous battlefield - Siachen Glacier - not just tough but…
Cambodia: Villagers Protest Ruling Party Senator’s ‘Land Grabs’
Aug 13, 2016
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Hul Reaksmey, Voice of America
More than 100 villagers from Kampong Speu province on Friday submitted a petition to the Ministry of Land Management calling on the government to resolve…
Iraq/Kurdistan/Islamic State: Islamic State Oil Commander Dead
Aug 12, 2016
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Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International
A commander in charge of oil for the Islamic State was killed in operations led by multilateral forces near the Syrian border, the Kurdish government…
Conflict Minerals: Many Companies Still Struggling with Conflict Mineral Reporting
Aug 12, 2016
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Kaitlyn McAvoy, Spend Matter
Nearly two-thirds of the companies that filed conflict mineral reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this year did not disclose the country of…
Myanmar: New Commission to Decide Fate of Myitsone Dam in Kachin State
Aug 12, 2016
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Nyein Nyein, The Irrawaddy
President Htin Kyaw on Friday formed a new commission to evaluate all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River prior to their going ahead. The…
Myanmar: Floods Shift to South - Flood Kills Six, Affects More Than 420,000 People Nationwide
Aug 12, 2016
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Government of Myanmar
Nationwide flooding, which began in mid-July and so far killed six people, has also affected more than 420,000 people in 98,000 households, according to the…
Climate Security: War on Climate Terror (II): Fleeing Disasters, Escaping Drought, Migrating
Aug 11, 2016
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Baher Kamal, Inter Press Service
“No one can deny the terrible similarities between those running from the threat of guns and those fleeing creeping desertification, water shortages, floods and hurricanes.”…
Myanmar: The Key to Jumpstarting Myanmar’s Economy: Electricity
Aug 11, 2016
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Peter Loftus, Diplomat
It’s no secret that the National League for Democracy (NLD) faces myriad challenges in improving Myanmar’s socioeconomic situation. In fact, its biggest challenge might be…
Iraq: Iraq, Oil Companies Agree to Restart Investment, Boost Output
Aug 11, 2016
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Ahmed Rasheed and Aref Mohammed, Reuters
Iraq has reached agreement with BP, Shell and Lukoil to restart stalled investment in oil fields the firms are developing, allowing projects that were halted…
Myanmar: Waters, but Not Worries, Recede in Flooded Mandalay Villages
Aug 10, 2016
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Phyo Wai Kyaw and Hlaing Kyaw Soe, Myanmar Times
High waters along the Ayeyarwady River in Mandalay Region’s Amarapura and Tada-U townships have begun to recede, but victims of flooding in the area say…
Vietnam/South China Sea: Exclusive: Vietnam Moves New Rocket Launchers into Disputed South China Sea - Sources
Aug 10, 2016
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Greg Torode, Reuters
Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Sea Dispute Fallout Stokes Tensions between China and Vietnam
Aug 10, 2016
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Michael Peel, Financial Times
Tensions are rising between Vietnam and China over an escalating regional sea territory dispute that has sparked allegations of missile deployments by Hanoi and cyber…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Says Northern Oil Well Engulfed in Fire [Video]
Aug 10, 2016
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Reuters
Officials from the state-run North Oil Company say a well controlled by Kurdish peshmerga fighters in Kirkuk has exploded.
Myanmar: Floods Caused by Limitless Abuse of Resource Extraction: Deputy Minister
Aug 10, 2016
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Eleven Myanmar
Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Dr Tun Win said yesterday that the flooding and natural disaster happening in Myanmar today are the consequences…
Colombia: UN Study Charts Extent of Unregulated Gold Mining in Colombia, Links to Organized Crime
Aug 10, 2016
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UN
An estimated 60 per cent of Colombia’s alluvial gold exploitation – through mining streams or riverbeds, often dredged with heavy machinery – is not established…
Afghanistan: A Start-Up Turns to Saffron to Help Afghanistan Regrow
Aug 10, 2016
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Aili McConnon, New York Times
Bomb-blasted roads, frequent blackouts, shortages of basic equipment and an untested consumer market are hardly conditions that make for natural entrepreneurial opportunities. But three Army…
Colombia: Colombia Expands Land Restitution to War-Torn South amid Peace Efforts
Aug 9, 2016
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Anastasia Moloney, Reuters
Colombia is expanding its land restitution program into former no-go areas in the country's war-torn south aiming to return land stolen from farmers by illegal…
Myanmar: Rangers Face Violent Loggers to Save Bago’s Shrinking Forests
Aug 9, 2016
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Htet Khaung Linn, Myanmar Now
Several forest rangers and policemen were manning a sleepy checkpoint on a dirt road near Myo Kaung Village, in the foothills of the Bago Mountain…