News


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds’ Independence Vote Exposed Risks to Energy Strategy

Nov 3, 2017 | Stanley Reed, New York Times

Iraqi Kurdish leaders have long sought to craft an energy policy independent of the federal government in Baghdad, courting international companies and offering lucrative deals…


Myanmar: Major Dutch Timber Company Found Guilty of Dealing in Illegal Teak

Nov 2, 2017 | Mongabay

An investigation has revealed a major Dutch timber company placed illegally sourced teak from Myanmar on the European market, prompting the Dutch Food and Safety…


Myanmar: Myanmar Land Rights Activist Beaten to Death by Mob in Shan State

Nov 2, 2017 | Radio Free Asia

A Myanmar land rights activist who challenged illegal land grabs in northern Shan State was beaten to death this week by a mob of some…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Wants Control of Kurdish Region's Oil Exports: State Firm

Nov 2, 2017 | Reuters

Iraq wants the Kurdistan region to stop independent crude exports and to hand over sales operations to the Iraqi state-oil marketer SOMO, the company’s director…


Myanmar: Campaign Targets Myanmar Elephant Poaching

Nov 2, 2017 | Zue Zue, Irrawaddy

A six-month campaign raising awareness of elephant poaching and wildlife smuggling will launch on Nov. 4 in response to an alarming rate of elephant poaching…


Colombia: Colombia's Land Battles Shatter the Peace in Cauca Valley – in Pictures [Photos]

Nov 1, 2017 | Guardian

As the peace deal opens up new areas to extractive industries, a long-running fight for land and the environment has erupted anew as indigenous communities…


Myanmar: Photo Essay: Along Myanmar’s Charcoal Highway [Photos]

Nov 1, 2017 | Nathan Siegel, Mongabay

Charcoal and firewood are the most common fuel sources in Myanmar – indeed, in much of the developing world. Farmers burn small trees under piles…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Tensions Rise as Iraq Halts Kirkuk Oil Exports

Nov 1, 2017 | Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com

Since the Iraqi army took control of the fields in the oil-rich Kirkuk area in mid-October, reports of disruptions in oil flows have been a…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Woos Farmers with Saffron to Sap Poppy Production [Photos]

Oct 31, 2017 | Hindustan Times

The Afghan government and international aid agencies have been trying to wean farmers from the lucrative poppy cultivation and transition instead to saffron for a…


Myanmar: Land-Seizure Bill Contains Compensation, Resettlement: MP

Oct 31, 2017 | Eleven

The bill regarding land seizure contains clauses for giving compensation and rehabilitating people who have lost their land, says an Upper House MP. Ba Myo…


Jordan: Jordan Water Crisis Worsens as Mideast Tensions Slow Action

Oct 31, 2017 | Karin Laub, Associated Press

Jordanians don't need scientists to tell them that they live in one of the world's driest countries in the center of the planet's most water-poor…


Syria: Assad Sets Sights on Kurdish Areas, Risking New Syria Conflict

Oct 31, 2017 | Tom Perry, Ellen Francis, and Laila Bassam, Reuters

With Islamic State near defeat in Syria, Damascus is setting its sights on territory held by Kurdish-led forces including eastern oil fields, risking a new…


Nigeria: Protection Project Manager Unicef

Oct 30, 2017 | Cooperazione Internazionale

Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) is an Italian humanitarian non-governmental organization founded in Milan in 1965. COOPI aims to help the world’s poorest to improve their access…


Somalia: WASH Officer Dhusamareb

Oct 30, 2017 | International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to…


Ethiopia - Somali Region: Programme Manager

Oct 30, 2017 | Oxfam

Oxfam is an international confederation of 20 NGOs working with partners in over 90 countries to end the injustices that cause poverty. Oxfam has been…


Nigeria: Environmental Management Officer

Oct 30, 2017 | Cuso International

Cuso International is a development organization that works to reduce poverty and inequality through the efforts of highly skilled volunteers, collaborative partnerships and compassionate donors. We believe…


Afghanistan: 80pc of Our Pastures Grabbed by Strongmen: Kochis

Oct 30, 2017 | Zabihullah Ihsas, Pajkwok Afghan News

The nomadic people of the northern zone say about 80 percent of their pastures have been grabbed by powerful individuals, causing them serious problems. The…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Kurds Resume Pumping Oil by Pipeline to Turkish Port

Oct 30, 2017 | Anthony Dipaola, Bloomberg

Oil exports resumed from Iraq’s Kurdish region after halting earlier Monday, a port agent said, highlighting uncertainty about pipeline shipments from OPEC’s second-biggest producer. Iraq’s…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish Leader Barzani Resigns after Independence Vote Backfires

Oct 29, 2017 | Raya Jalabi and Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said he would give up his position as president on Nov. 1, after an independence referendum he championed backfired and…


Afghanistan: Afghan Taliban Awash in Heroin Cash, a Troubling Turn for War

Oct 29, 2017 | Mujib Mashal

The Taliban have long profited from the opium trade by taxing and providing security for producers and smugglers. But increasingly, the insurgents are directly getting…


Afghanistan: Govt to Build Two More Dams on Harirod River

Oct 28, 2017 | Zarmina Mohammadi, TOLOnews

The Ministry of Energy and Water is working on the procurement process for two dam projects which will be built on the Harirod River in…


Colombia: Fighting to Farming: New Life for Colombia's Ex-Rebels

Oct 28, 2017 | Raul Arboleda, Agence France-Presse

In this jungle zone which was a historic bastion of FARC, about 250 ex-rebels came together to start their lives anew in agriculture, fish farming,…


Colombia: Battle for the Mother Land: Indigenous People of Colombia Fighting for Their Lands

Oct 28, 2017 | Jonathan Watts, Guardian

A green-and-red flag flies over a cluster of bamboo and tarpaulin tents on the frontline of an increasingly deadly struggle for land and the environment…


Afghanistan: Illegal Mining of Faryab Stucco Continues

Oct 28, 2017 | Qutbuddin Kohi, Pajhwok Afghan News

Illegal extraction of stucco deposits in Sherin Tagab district of northern Fayab province has been underway for the past two years involving powerful individuals and…


Iraq: Iraq Finds ‘Contraband’ Oil Pipeline in South

Oct 28, 2017 | Agence France-Presse

Iraqi police have uncovered an underground pipeline used to smuggle crude oil from the giant Rumaila oilfield in the south of the country, a security…


With New Peace, Colombia Finds Hope for Saving its Wild Lands

Oct 27, 2017 | Lisa Palmer

Brandishing automatic rifles, the guerilla fighters ordered Andrés Cuervo to leave his camping gear and research notes at the abandoned wooden house where he had…


Climate Change: "Peace Has Tremendous Implications for Climate Change Policy" - Luis Murillo

Oct 27, 2017 | Charlotte Butler and Deborah Evanson, Imperial College London

In 2016, the Colombian government signed a landmark peace deal with the country’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), putting an…


Myanmar: The Charcoal Hunters

Oct 27, 2017 | Emmanuel Freudenthal and Nathan Siegel, Mongabay

The train rocked from side to side like a sketchy funhouse. It was the rainy season in northern Myanmar and Emmanuel Freudenthal and Nathan Siegel had…


Colombia: Palm Oil Mounts ‘New Offensive’ in Colombia While Workers Decry Labor Conditions

Oct 27, 2017 | Bram Ebus, Mongabay

Conflict can be a byproduct of the palm oil industry, with accusations of land-grabbing and even murder reported in many areas around the world where…


Iraq: The Waterkeeper of Iraq

Oct 27, 2017 | Kenneth R Rosen, Al Jazeera

Water scarcity is becoming an increasingly pressing issue in the northern region. If neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Iran and Syria move forward with plans…