News


Peace Paves the Way for Environmental Gains in Colombia

Aug 18, 2016 | Arnaud Peral

The armed conflict has left an immense ecological footprint and has limited the extent to which Colombia can achieve development through biodiversity.

There are many examples…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Resumes Pumping Oil through Kurdish Pipeline

Aug 18, 2016 | Reuters

Iraq has resumed pumping oil from fields operated by state-run North Oil Company (NOC) via a Kurdish pipeline to Turkey, a spokesman for the oil…


Myanmar: Myanmar's Suu Kyi Assures China of Solution to Stalled Dam

Aug 18, 2016 | Ben Blanchard, Reuters

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi told China's premier on Thursday that her new government is willing to look for a resolution that suits both…


Why Liberia Could Plunge Back into Conflict if a Historic Land Rights Bill isn't Passed

Aug 17, 2016 | Elsa Buchanan

Liberia could plunge back into civil war if the nation does not pass a historic bill protecting community land rights in a region where weak…


Beware the Illusion of China-ASEAN South China Sea Breakthroughs

Aug 17, 2016 | Prashanth Parameswaran

According to China Daily, the 13th senior officials’ meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea ended…


Guatemala’s Indigenous Peoples Endure Poverty and Contested Land Rights

Aug 17, 2016 | World Politics Review

Individuals who self-identify as indigenous—about half the population—are recognized as full citizens, even though they may face many types of de facto discrimination. As collective…


Myanmar: Year-Long Ban on Myanmar’s Logging Trade Kindles Hope for Forests

Aug 17, 2016 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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,…


DRC: Senior Consultant- Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Aug 16, 2016 | Enough Project

The Senior Consultant on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be responsible for researching, investigating, and writing about the drivers of conflict and…


China: China Associate, Forest Legality Initiative

Aug 16, 2016 | World Resources Institute

The Associate will be a key subject matter expert and will facilitate program management and contribute to the development of high quality project activities and…


DRC: Central Africa Regional Strategy Lead, Forests

Aug 16, 2016 | World Resources Institute

The World Resources Institute (WRI) seeks a Central Africa Regional Strategy Lead to lead development of national strategies, support work plan development, monitoring, communication and…


Liberia: Economic Assessment Consultant

Aug 16, 2016 | International Alert

International Alert is requesting ‘Expressions of Interest’ (EOI) from qualified and experienced specialists for a "Community Economic Needs and Opportunities Assessment" to be submitted by 31…


Myanmar: Farmers Seek Reform of Seized Lands Scrutiny

Aug 16, 2016 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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…


Vietnam’s Rocket Launchers May Prompt China to Declare Air Defense Zone

Aug 11, 2016 | Harry Kazianis

It was inevitable, but nations in the South China Sea that have overlapping claims with the People’s Republic of China are now beginning to push…


A Resourceful Solution to Rapacious Mining Projects

Aug 11, 2016 | Frontier Myanmar

Just weeks before last year’s election, Global Witness dropped a bombshell. In a report on the jade industry, Jade: Myanmar’s ‘Big State Secret’, it alleged that…