International
Food Security: Obama Signs Global Food Security Act to End Hunger
Jul 21, 2016
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Fernanda Crescente, USA TODAY
A bipartisan bill promoting global food security, resilience and nutrition could make hunger history, President Obama said Wednesday during the White House Summit on Global Development. The Global Food…
Afghanistan: Pistachios, Afghans' Green Gold, Coveted by Taliban
Jul 20, 2016
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Agence France-Presse
Afghanistan takes pride in its world-class pistachios, but with looters harvesting the nuts well before maturity fears are growing that the Taliban and local strongmen…
Conflict Minerals: U.S. Companies Providing More Details in Latest Conflict Minerals Filings with SEC, but Supply Chain Transparency Challenges Remain
Jul 20, 2016
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Source Intelligence
More U.S. companies are providing greater details about their efforts to determine if their products contain conflict minerals under federal rules designed to help end…
Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan Worried as Afghanistan Plans to Build Dams on Kabul River
Jul 20, 2016
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Khaama Press
The Pakistani officials are worried amid reports that the Afghan government is planning to build water dams on Kabul River. The country’s Ministry of Water…
Syria/Kurdistan: US-Backed Kurdish Forces Benefiting from Oil in Syria
Jul 20, 2016
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Sirwan Kajjo, Voice of America
When Kurdish-led forces took control of Shaddadi in northeastern Syria in February, they not only pushed back Islamic State militants who had been there for…
South Sudan: CNPC Evacuates Oil Personnel from South Sudan
Jul 19, 2016
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Erwin Cifuentes, OilPrice.com
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) evacuated 191 of its employees in South Sudan amid worries over an escalation in the armed conflict between the…
Liberia: FDA Rubbishes SDI Claims of Planned Forest Destruction
Jul 19, 2016
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Edwin M. Fayia III, Daily Observer
The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has taken serious exception to claims made by the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) in an open letter from Goldman Prize…
Cambodia: Wetlands Threatened by Coastal Land Grabs
Jul 19, 2016
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Phak Seangly, Phnom Penh Post
The Council of Ministers has urged the Ministry of Land Management to crack down on coastal land grabbing in response to a report that found…
This Drone Can Detect and Detonate Land Mines
Jul 19, 2016
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James Vincent, The Verge
MKD's designers claim that this method is up to 20 times faster than traditional de-mining techniques, and up to 200 times cheaper. The team, led…
Colombia: Coca's Comeback Forces Colombia to Rethink Drug War
Jul 18, 2016
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Joshua Goodman, Associated Press
After six straight years of declining or steady production, the amount of land under coca cultivation in Colombia began rising in 2014 and jumped 42…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Detains Anti-China Activists over South China Sea Dispute
Jul 17, 2016
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Deutsche Welle
Vietnam has detained dozens of activists at a rally protesting China's refusal to abide by an international tribunal's ruling. Vietnam and China have been locked…
Iraq: Iraq's Marshes, Once Drained by Saddam, Named World Heritage Site
Jul 17, 2016
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Reuters
A wetland in southeast Iraq, thought to be the biblical Garden of Eden and almost completely drained during Saddam Hussein's rule, has become a UNESCO…
Colombia: Oil Rich Colombia Stays Healthy, Averting disaster from Venezuela, Brazil
Jul 17, 2016
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Dawn Kissi, CNBC
Colombia is more than just the sum of its coffee and crude oil exports. The Andean nation has not been completely immune to the slump…
Myanmar: Myanmar's Jade Slump Points to a Pivot away from China
Jul 15, 2016
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Motokazu Matsui, Nikkei
The once-warm ties between Myanmar and China appear to be cooling under Myanmar's new government-led by State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.…
Colombia: Heavy Toll for Green and Indigenous Activists among Colombian Killings
Jul 15, 2016
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Camilo Mejia Giraldo, Mongabay
Colombia is on the cusp of ending five decades of internal conflict between the state and leftist guerrillas, and violence between the two sides has…
Myanmar: Traders Call on Govt to Support Jade Market
Jul 15, 2016
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Kyaw Hsu Mon, The Irrawaddy
Jade traders in Mandalay have collected signatures to accompany a proposal requesting government support for a better jade market, they told The Irrawaddy on Friday.…
Myanmar: Gems and Food Products Added to National Export Strategy
Jul 14, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
The Ministry of Commerce has added gems and value-added food products to its National Export Strategy in the hope of creating thousands of new jobs.…
Nigeria: Are the Niger Delta Militants Now Targeting Oil Facilities in the South West?
Jul 14, 2016
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Adetula David, Ventures
On Tuesday night, suspected militants blew up a gas pipeline in the Ogijo area of Ogun state. Since the inauguration of President Buhari’s administration last…
Liberia: Liberia Must Pass Land Rights Bill or Risk Jeopardising Peace, Campaigners Warn
Jul 14, 2016
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Ruth Maclean, Guardian
Liberia could be plunged back into conflict if a historic land rights bill is not passed by August, civil society groups have warned. The country’s…
South Sudan: South Sudan Oil Hopes Thwarted Once Again by Civil War
Jul 14, 2016
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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…