News


Investing in South Sudan Oil Could Add Fuel to the Flames

Oct 6, 2019 | Brian Adeba and Megha Swamy

A major oil and power conference kicks off in Cape Town this week with South Sudan expected to actively seek companies and announce exploration licences…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Again Accuses China of Violating Its Fishing Rights in Its Exclusive Economic Zone

Oct 6, 2019 | Shi Jiangtao, South China Morning Post

Hanoi has again accused Beijing of violating its rights after three Chinese vessels stopped a local crew from fishing in the country’s exclusive economic zone…


Afghanistan: Teachers to Get Apartments Instead of Land in Future: Balkhi

Oct 5, 2019 | Pajhwok Afghan News

Education Minister Mohammad Mirwais Balkhi on Saturday said a has been devised plan to give schoolteachers apartments instead of land plots in future. Balkhi made…


DRC: The Bisunzu Mine in Congo Using Blockchain to Digitally Trace and Tag Cobalt-Tantalum Mining

Oct 5, 2019 | BitcoinKE

A new system by a Berlin-based blockchain company, RCS Global, is already in use to tag Cobalt-Tantalum mineral ores from one particular mine and help…


China/South Sudan: Why China Is Hoping for a Peace Dividend in South Sudan

Oct 5, 2019 | Jevans Nyabiage, South China Morning Post

With a possible end to South Sudan’s long-running civil war in sight, China has its own reasons for hoping the peace process succeeds. The two…


Nigeria: Over 1200 Mining Experts to Deliberate on Nigeria’s Fledgling Mining Industry

Oct 5, 2019 | Ike Dzokpo, News Ghana

Senior Vice President, Investments, at the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has announced that Nigeria Mining Week is open for business and is ready to make…


Afghanistan: Water Management for Peace

Oct 4, 2019 | Said Hashmat Sadat and Nastrat Sayed

In the optimistic view, Afghanistan is closer to peace today than at any time in the past decades. The presidential election last weekend may have…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Accuses Chinese Ships of Ramping up South China Sea Tensions

Oct 4, 2019 | Bloomberg

Vietnam accused a Chinese oil-surveying vessel and coastguard escorts of territorial violations by widening their activities after entering the country’s exclusive economic zone and operating…


Afghanistan: Insecurity, Fraud Allegations Mar US Company’s Quest to Mine for Gold in Afghanistan

Oct 4, 2019 | J.P. Lawrence, Stars and Stripes

A year after a U.S.-based company signed contracts to mine for gold and copper in Afghanistan, work still hasn’t begun amid fears of insecurity and…


Nigeria: A Paradigm Shift for Conflict-Affected Rice Producers in Rural Borno

Oct 4, 2019 | AfricaNews

The Jere Bowl is an irrigated land mass formed by the flow of the Ngadda River in Jere local government area (LGA), Borno State, in Nigeria.…


Researchers Model the Climate Impacts of a Nuclear Conflict

Oct 4, 2019 | Laureen Fagan, Sustainability Times

Nuclear conflict may remain unthinkable in terms of the human cost, but research published this week in the journal Science Advances adds focus on the…


Libya: As Libya’s War Drags on, Tripoli Drowns in Waste

Oct 4, 2019 | Agence France-Presse

Across Tripoli, tonnes of waste overflows from bins and piles up on roadsides. The rubbish crisis adds to the daily ordeal for residents of the…


For Bosnian Women, No Justice—and No Seats

Oct 3, 2019 | Riada Asimovic Akyol

Both men and women suffer the consequences of wars, but conflicts and humanitarian disasters around the world tend to disproportionately affect women and children. Additionally,…


Colombia: Trees of Reconciliation in Carrizal

Oct 3, 2019 | UN Verification Mission in Colombia

Victims, security forces, former FARC-EP combatants, youth groups and community planted trees at the former Territorial Area for Training and Reincorporation (TATR) in Carrizal, Remedios,…


Afghanistan: Mining Law Reforms Revived [Video]

Oct 3, 2019 | TOLOnews

The Ministry of Mines released a statement saying they have consulted with various institutions to revise mining law. Integrity Watch Afghanistan says that despite the…


Iraq: Iraq's Dependence on Oil to Continue as Reform Pace Slows, Says Moody's

Oct 3, 2019 | Jennifer Gnana, National

Iraq's continued dependence on oil revenues is likely to slow structural and fiscal reforms over the medium term, Moody's said in a report, which also…


Iraq: Sudden Eruption of Violence in Iraq Threatens Oil Supply

Oct 3, 2019 | Nick Cunningham, Oil Price

Oil prices have fallen sharply over the past week, as the swift return of disrupted Saudi oil production allowed markets to look past geopolitical risk.…


Food Security, Infrastructure and Containment: Why GCC States Are Engaging in the Horn of Africa in a Big Way

Oct 3, 2019 | Sebastian Rees, AlBawaba

Gulf actors, heavily reliant on foreign food imports, proved particularly interested in the Horn’s potential as a breadbasket for food production and agriculture. A global…


The Hidden Work of Post-Conflict Recovery

Oct 2, 2019 | Jay Lingham and Melissa Johnston

Sri Lanka 2011. It is two years since a brutal civil war ended, with the UN reporting tens of thousands of civilians killed in the final…


Custom, Caste System Deny Land Rights to Asian Women, Indigenous People

Oct 2, 2019 | Rina Chandran

Women, lower-caste and indigenous people across Asia are failing to benefit from land reform laws because of custom and deep-rooted social biases, land rights activists…


Iraq: Building the Network of Water Activists in Basra

Oct 2, 2019 | Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative

It’s been one year since the city of Basra was rocked by large-scale protests following a major pollution crisis in which citizens decried the lack…


Climate Change: Climate Action for Peace – Faith-Based Perspectives

Oct 2, 2019 | UN Environment

Environment and peace are cross-cutting issues that are intrinsic to sustainable development. While natural resources are vital to achieving sustainable development, they are also increasingly…


International Law Is Failing the South China Sea

Oct 1, 2019 | Shirley Wang

When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing on August 29, expectations were high that progress would be made on the South…


Food Security: Netherlands USD 28 Million Pledge to Support Resilience in Crisis Countries

Oct 1, 2019 | Ana Maria Lebada, International Institute for Sustainable Development

On the margins of the UN Climate Action Summit, the Netherlands pledged USD 28 million in support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Beijing Infuriates Vietnam after Deploying Controversial New Oil Rig

Oct 1, 2019 | John Vargo, Express

Tensions between China and Vietnam flared up again over Beijing’s deployment of its giant new offshore oil exploration platform in the disputed South China Sea.


This October on Agrilinks: The Role of Gender in Agriculture

Oct 1, 2019 | Krista Jacobs

Gender influences which crops are grown, which animals are raised, and which technologies are used. It influences how households earn a livelihood and manage risk,…


Myanmar: Two Mandalay Lakes to Get Wetland Protection

Sep 30, 2019 | Kyaw Ko Ko, Myanmar Times

Mandalay Region’s Sont Ye Lake in Kyaukse township and Paleik Lake in Tada-U will be designated as protected wetlands to conserve them and regulate development, a…


Afghanistan: Protection Body Prevents Illegal Mining at 2,200 Sites

Sep 30, 2019 | Navid Ahmad Barakzai, Pajhwok

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) says the Mines Protection Committee (MPC) has been able to prevent illegal extractions of natural resources at 2,200…


DRC: Congo Mine Deploys Digital Weapons in Fight against Conflict Minerals

Sep 30, 2019 | Aaron Ross and Barbara Lewis, Reuters

In a small shack overlooking muddy pits hewn out of eastern Congo’s rolling green hills, a government official puts a barcoded tag on a sack…


Liberia: USAID’s Farmer of the Year Promotes Garden Programs

Sep 30, 2019 | George Harris, Observer

Urban population growth is affecting land availability for vegetable production, a situation beclouding the future of urban farming in Liberia. But USAID’s 2019 Farmer of…