International
Iraq/Kurdistan: Abadi Asked Oil Minister to Prepare for Talks with Kurdistan
Jan 5, 2018
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Rudaw
Iraqi’s prime minister requested the oil minister to prepare for talks with the Kurdistan Region about oil, the minister revealed, adding he expected a visit…
Afghanistan: ‘No Progress’ on Expansion of Key Mines in Afghanistan
Jan 5, 2018
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TOLOnews
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) said the government is currently assessing Karkar, Dodkash mines and the Ghori cement factory to establish how it…
Iraq/Kurdistan: KRG Questions Reliability of Oil Revenue, Salary Data from Iraqi PM Abadi
Jan 4, 2018
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Rudaw
The spokesperson of the KRG dismissed claims by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who had alleged that the Kurdish government exported 2 trillion Iraqi dinars…
SIS Professor Works to Build Global Environmental Peace
Jan 4, 2018
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Katie Catania, American University
School of International Service Professor Ken Conca’s relationship with water has sustained and taken him around the world as an expert in global environmental governance,…
South Sudan: South Sudan Urged to Adopt Renewable Energy Potentials
Jan 4, 2018
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Sudan Tribune
A donor-led shift from total reliance on diesel to renewable energy in South Sudan can deliver short-term humanitarian cost savings while creating a longer-term building…
Afghanistan: Deadly Silence Against Air Pollution
Jan 4, 2018
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Mohammad Zahir Akbari, Daily Outlook Afghanistan
Both government and citizens are aware that air-pollution have reached a serious threatening level in Afghanistan but knowingly underestimate the deteriorating issue! thousands of people…
Myanmar: Villagers Turn to Charcoal Trade to Tap Chinese Demand
Jan 3, 2018
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Khin Su Wai, Myanmar Times
Charcoal demand has risen over the past two years after the Chinese opened a banana plantation across 20,000 ares of land in Myitkyina, not far…
Myanmar: Inaugural Yangon Gems and Jewellery Fair to Promote Value-Added Products, Say Organisers
Jan 3, 2018
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Kyaw Ye Lynn, Frontier
Organisers of an international gems and jewellery fair in Yangon this month say a boycott of precious stones from Myanmar by some luxury brands because…
Myanmar: Overseas Demand for Locally-Produced Coffee Expected to Rise in 2018
Jan 3, 2018
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Phyo Wai Kyaw, Myanmar Times
Prospects are looking good for the Myanmar coffee industry, with coffee prices kicking off the New Year on a high level and domestic market conditions…
Colombia: The Colombian Monkeys That Could Save Themselves and Their Habitat
Jan 2, 2018
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Rachel Stern, Deutsche Welle
Colombia's cotton-top monkeys and other primates play a key role in preserving their ecosystems. Yet they are under threat due to deforestation, farming and the…
Myanmar: An Army, a Mountain and the Asian Development Bank
Jan 2, 2018
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Su Myat Mon, Frontier
When s group of Kayin State villagers travelled to inspect a big quarrying operation on Mount Lun Nya earlier this month they soon realised their…
Afghanistan: Pollution of Groundwater Threatens Kabul Districts
Jan 2, 2018
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Nargis Mosavi, TOLOnews
A new study has found that many serious health problems among the people in Kabul are due to a dramatic increase in air pollution and…
Afghanistan: In Afghanistan, Clearing Landmines to Save Lives
Jan 1, 2018
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Jennifer Glasse, PBS NewsHour
Afghanistan is home to the world’s largest landmine removal program, but as special correspondent Jennifer Glasse reports, mine agencies have done little to clear the…
Afghanistan/Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan Cuts off Power Supply to Northwestern Afghanistan
Jan 1, 2018
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Qutbuddin Kohi, Pajhwok Afghan News
Turkmenistan has cut off power supply to Afghanistan’s border provinces, Da Afghanistan Breshna Shirkat (DABS) announced on Monday. To the chagrin of residents, power supply…
Afghanistan: MPs Want to Impeach Osmani over Dams, Budget
Dec 31, 2017
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Massoud Ansar, TOLOnews
Legislators in Afghanistan’s parliament are expected to try and impeach the minister of water and energy Ali Ahmad Osmani over his poor performance in the…
Afghanistan: Study Finds Toxic Substances in Kabul Water
Dec 30, 2017
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Nargis Mosavi, TOLOnews
A new study has found that many serious health problems among the people in Kabul are due to a dramatic increase in air pollution and…
Colombia: 'It's a Perverse System': How Colombia's Farmers Are Reforesting Their Logged Land
Dec 29, 2017
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Lisa Palmer, Guardian
Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, trailing only Brazil, and more than half of its territory is covered by forest. But…
Colombia: Khiron Receives Cultivation Quota from Colombian Government and Commences Cultivation of Medical Cannabis Strains
Dec 29, 2017
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Hailey Wahlberg, Investing News
Khiron Life Sciences Corp. reports that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Khiron Colombia SAS, has commenced cultivation of a variety of medical grade cannabis strains…
Myanmar: A Farmers Activist Is Beaten to Death, and the Video Goes Viral. How Tensions over Land Are Tearing at Myanmar
Dec 29, 2017
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Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times
In Myanmar, a lush Southeast Asian nation where 70% of the population makes a living from agriculture, a slow transition from half a century of…
Myanmar: Plundered Jade Mountains Leave Gaping Hole in Govt Revenue
Dec 28, 2017
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Nyan Hlaing Lynn, Frontier
In Myanmar, if you want to do business in jade you have to buy from the gems and jade emporiums jointly sponsored by the government…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq to Divert Most Kirkuk Oilfield Output to Iraqi Refineries, Says Official
Dec 27, 2017
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Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters
Iraq is preparing to divert most future output from Kirkuk oilfield to local refineries as a conflict with Kurdish regional authorities over the use of…
Myanmar: Parliament Approves Proposal to Ensure Transparency in Extractive Industries
Dec 27, 2017
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Htet Naing Zaw, Irrawaddy
Myanmar Lower House of Parliament on Thursday approved a proposal to ensure transparency in the country’s extractive industries and transfer back the gross revenues of…
Chad: 12 Sudanese Gold Prospectors Killed in Chad
Dec 27, 2017
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Sudan Tribune
Twelve Sudanese traditional gold prospectors have been killed and seventeen others injured on Monday by gunmen in Chad on the border with Libya. Eyewitnesses told…
Afghanistan: Illegal Extraction; Terrorist Groups Earn Millions of Dollars
Dec 26, 2017
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Afghanistan Times
“The mining sector has to be transparent, because it becomes a source of misfortune for Afghan people. The revenue goes to the powerful and terrorists’…
Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: Egypt Wants Outside Experts to Help Settle Nile Dispute
Dec 26, 2017
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Aaron Masho, Reuters
Egypt said on Tuesday it had suggested to Ethiopia and Sudan that they all call in international experts to help settle a dispute on an…
Colombia: Driven from Their Lands, Colombia’s Awá Struggle to Survive
Dec 26, 2017
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Michelle Begue, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Indigenous peoples like the Awá Mayasquer are among those most impacted by more than five decades of armed conflict in Colombia that has displaced more…
Liberia: Liberian Government Debunks Global Witness Publication of Forestry Tax Waiver
Dec 24, 2017
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FrontPage Africa
Forestry Industrial Development & Employment Regime Act of 2017 does not provide the timber industry a US$13 million tax gift and that every penny the…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Invites Bids to Build New Kirkuk Export Pipeline
Dec 24, 2017
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Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters
Iraq has given foreign energy companies a month to signal their interest in building a new export pipeline from the Kirkuk oilfields in the north…
Afghanistan: US Air Raids Have Destroyed 25 Taliban Drug Labs. They Might Be Aiming at the Wrong Target, Afghans Say.
Dec 23, 2017
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Sayed Salahuddin and Pamela Constable, Washington Post
One month after U.S. and Afghan forces began bombing suspected Taliban drug laboratories in Helmand province, Afghan officials and analysts say they are relieved that…
Afghanistan: Govt to Enforce Environmental Laws
Dec 23, 2017
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Gulabuddin Ghubar, TOLOnews
President Ashraf Ghani has issued a decree on the environmental law, stating any person found guilty of committing major pollution-related crimes can face between 16…