International


Land: Rise of Agri-Cartel: Control of Land Drives Human Rights Violations, Environmental Destruction

Aug 24, 2018 | Sonya Swink, Globe Post

Control of land for crops that sustain the world’s largest food businesses, such as Ferrero and Nestle, is the driving force behind the destruction of…


Myanmar: Water Project Offers Hope to Farmers in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone

Aug 23, 2018 | Evan Erickson, Mizzima

While the Dry Zone farmers of today are using techniques and working alongside irrigation schemes that are ancient in origin, the historical and climatic contexts…


Myanmar: Jade, Drugs and GDP

Aug 23, 2018 | Thiha Saw, Myanmar Times

Myanmar boasts of possessing precious natural resources including those that are mined, legally or otherwise, and one of these resources is jade. But there is an…


DRC: Miners Establish Industry Body to Engage DRC Govt on Mining Code, Industry Issues

Aug 23, 2018 | Marleny Arnoldi, Mining Weekly

Mining companies active in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have established a new industry body, the Mining Promotion Initiative (MPI), to engage with government…


Conflict Minerals: Blood, Sweat, and Batteries

Aug 23, 2018 | Vivienne Walt and Sebastian Meyer, Fortune

That soaring appetite for cobalt is a product of today’s device-driven tech economy: The metal is a key component in the lithium-ion batteries that power…


Kuwait: Kuwait Aims to Settle Oil Field Disputes with Iraq, Saudi Arabia in Coming Weeks

Aug 22, 2018 | Herman Wang, S&P GLobal

Kuwaiti oil minister Bakheet al-Rashidi said Wednesday he expects to resolve two long-standing oil field disputes involving neighbors Iraq and Saudi in the coming weeks.…


Afghanistan: Water Shortages Weigh Heavy on Afghanistan

Aug 22, 2018 | Ezzatullah Mehrdad, Global Voices

Landlocked Afghanistan wasn't always short of water. Historically the valleys in this part of Asia were agricultural heartlands that hosted rushing rivers fed by abundant…


Colombia: Colombia to Consider Aiding Struggling Coffee Farmers

Aug 22, 2018 | Reuters

The Colombian government is examining possible help for coffee farmers hit by low international prices, the agriculture minister said on Wednesday, after repeated requests for…


Colombia: Drones Are Being Enlisted to Tackle Colombia’s Cocaine Farms

Aug 22, 2018 | Malek Murison, Drone Life

We’re not quite at the stage at which drones are taking an active role in day to day agriculture. Despite hardware releases from DJI and…


Myanmar: Myanmar Comes in 2nd on List of Countries Most Prone to Water-Related Disasters

Aug 21, 2018 | May Thin Kyi, Eleven

Myanmar is ranked 2nd on the list of countries with the highest amount of dangers caused by water, said Dr Khin Ni Ni Thein, Secretary…


Conflict Minerals: Blockchain Firms See Growing Opportunity in Ethical Materials

Aug 21, 2018 | Jason Deign, Green Tech Media

Blockchain firms are racing to create ethical sourcing platforms for cobalt amid growing concerns over mining conditions in the lithium-ion battery supply chain. This month,…


South Sudan: Bucknell Researcher Reveals the Biological Treasures of a Conflict Zone

Aug 21, 2018 | Matt Hughes, Bucknell University

DeeAnn Reeder is one of the few animal researchers to have ever worked in South Sudan, where longstanding civil conflict has recently flared up again.…


Afghanistan: Worst Drought in Decades Grips Two-Thirds of Afghanistan [Video]

Aug 20, 2018 | Charlotte Bellis, Al Jazeera

Afghanistan is experiencing a drought so severe that two million people may run out of food in the next six months. More than 80,000 people…


Afghanistan/India/Iran/Pakistan: India’s Controversial Afghanistan Dams

Aug 20, 2018 | Sudha Ramachandran, The Diplomat

India is expected to begin work on the $236 million Shahtoot Dam project on the Kabul River in Afghanistan in the coming weeks. Scheduled to…


Africa: Intolerance, Inequalities and the Land Issue - Major Threats to Peace in Africa

Aug 20, 2018 | Colleta Dewa, Southern Times

Leaders from across the African continent, who gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the African Leaders of Peace Summit last week said the continent needs…


Afghanistan: TAPI Plagued by Land Acquisition Problems

Aug 18, 2018 | Zabihullah Jahanmal, TOLOnews

Officials of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project in the country said so far they have completed 45 percent of the land acquisition process of…


DRC: Taking Traceable Conflict-Free Gold from DR Congo to International Markets

Aug 18, 2018 | UN Environment

While DR Congo’s annual artisanal gold production is estimated to stand at between eight to ten tons, official statistics show that only 200 kg of…


Liberia: Ganta Mayor Embarks on Surveying Public Lands

Aug 17, 2018 | Joaquin M. Sendolo, Daily Observer

As the commercial city of Ganta, in Nimba County, expands and more people begin to seek settlement there, the Mayor, Amos N.G. Suah, has begun…


Iraq: BP and PetroChina Set to Rake in Billions Developing Iraq's Super-Massive Rumaila Oil Field

Aug 17, 2018 | Callum Turcan, Seeking Alpha

Located in 1953 by BP plc (NYSE:BP), back when BP was British Petroleum, the Rumaila oil field in Iraq is truly massive. It is expected…


Colombia: Govt Rushes to Save National Park from Rampant Deforestation

Aug 16, 2018 | Maria Fernanda Lizcano, Mongabay

“Territories are like books: they can be in front of you, but if you do not read them you will never understand them,” said Juan…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Oil Ministry Bans Kurdish Language in Documents

Aug 16, 2018 | Irina Slav, Oil Price

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has banned the use of Kurdish words in official documents, threatening Kurdish employees with lawsuits if they violate the ban, Kurdish…


Iraq/Kurdistan/Turkey: Kurdish Officials: Iraq, Turkey Can’t Export Kirkuk Oil without Kurdistan Deal

Aug 15, 2018 | Tsvetana Paraskova, Oil Price

Iraq and Turkey must reach a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) first in order to export oil from the Kirkuk fields in northern…


Myanmar: New Jade and Gemstone Policy Expected to Boost the Industry

Aug 13, 2018 | Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times

The government is drafting its first ever jade and gemstone policy with the help of the private sector and foreign institutions. When complete, the policy…


Afghanistan: Farmers in War-Torn Afghanistan Hit by Worst Drought in Decades

Aug 12, 2018 | Hamid Fahim and Emal Haidary, Phys.org

After his wheat crop failed and wells dried up, Ghulam Abbas sold his animals and joined thousands of other farmers migrating to cities as Afghanistan's…


Afghanistan: Drought Raises Food Security Fears in Afghanistan

Aug 12, 2018 | Al Jazeera

A shortage of precipitation during the winter months, both rain and snow, left much of Afghanistan with a severe scarcity of water and a decimated…


Climate Change: As the Arctic Melts, Maritime Security Gets Real

Aug 11, 2018 | Tamara Dietrich, Daily Press

Hampton Roads residents know full well that the Atlantic is gnawing ever more ferociously at the shore, surging into the streets whenever it gets riled…


Cambodia: Organisations Back Kuoy Land Claims

Aug 10, 2018 | Khy Sovuthy, Khmer Times

Two organisations aiming to restore indigenous land around the world on Wednesday expressed concern over land in Preah Vihear province after a major Chinese conglomerate…


South Sudan: Security Council Says Alarmed by Food Insecurity in South Sudan

Aug 10, 2018 | Sudan Tribune

The United Nations Security Council Friday said alarmed by the level of food insecurity in South Sudan and called to allow unfettered humanitarian access to…


China/South China Sea: 'Leave Immediately': US Navy Plane Warned over South China Sea

Aug 10, 2018 | Brad Lendon, Ivan Watson and Ben Westcott, CNN

High above one of the most hotly contested regions in the world, CNN was given a rare look Friday at the Chinese government's rapidly expanding…


Ecuador: In Ecuador, a Pipeline Cuts a Trail of Misery through Indigenous Land

Aug 9, 2018 | José María León Cabrera, Mongabay

Amerisur has operated in Colombia since 2003, and one of the oil fields that it works, Platanillo, is located in the department of Putumayo, across…