International
Myanmar: Campaign Targets Myanmar Elephant Poaching
Nov 2, 2017
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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…
Afghanistan: 80pc of Our Pastures Grabbed by Strongmen: Kochis
Oct 30, 2017
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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…
Climate Change: "Peace Has Tremendous Implications for Climate Change Policy" - Luis Murillo
Oct 27, 2017
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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
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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
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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
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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…
South Sudan: From Emergency to Sustainable Adaptation: Tackling Food Insecurity in South Sudan
Oct 26, 2017
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ACTED
South Sudan is in a dire humanitarian crisis. Earlier this year, famine was declared in two counties of Unity state where conflict and mass displacement…
Iraq: The EITI Board Concludes That Iraq’s “Potential Has Yet to Be Fulfilled” in Oil and Mining Sector
Oct 26, 2017
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Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
At its meeting in Manila, the Philippines, the EITI Board today commended Iraq’s efforts to bring transparency to its oil exports and encouraged the Government…
Iraq: Iraq’s Vast Marshes, Reborn after Saddam, Are in Peril Again
Oct 26, 2017
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Susannah George and Sam McNeil, Associated Press
The southern marshlands of Iraq, a lush remnant of the cradle of civilization , were reborn after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein when residents…
Myanmar: Extractive Industries Aggravating Local Conflicts, Ethnic Researchers Warn
Oct 25, 2017
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Hein Ko Soe, Frontier Myanmar
Ethnic minority researchers have called on the government to halt and review planned natural resource extraction projects in minority areas to avoid further conflicts with…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Paramilitaries Battle Kurds in Push Towards Turkish Border Oil Hub
Oct 25, 2017
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Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters
Iraqi pro-government paramilitaries launched an offensive against Kurdish troops on Tuesday near the Turkish frontier, pushing towards a strategic border crossing and oil export pipeline…
Colombia: Deadly Clashes as Colombia Destroys Coca Crops
Oct 25, 2017
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Alessandro Rampietti, Al Jazeera
The cultivation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, is booming once again in Colombia. The government is trying to slash production by employing hundreds…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Fear of Iranian General Left Iraqi Kurdish Oil Fields Deserted
Oct 25, 2017
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Ahmed Rasheed and Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters
Major-General Soleimani, one of the most influential military figures in the Middle East, with reach in Syria and Lebanon, issued tough warnings to Kurdish leaders…
Afghanistan: Insecurity Negatively Impacts Agriculture in Villages
Oct 25, 2017
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Zabihullah Ihsas, Pajhwok Afghan News
Insecurity and the conflict have a negative impact on the agriculture in villages where production has affected. These views were expressed by government officials and…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Works with Kurdish Company to Help Restart Two Oil Fields
Oct 25, 2017
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Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg
Iraq’s North Oil Co. is working with the Kurdish Kar Group to resume pumping at two disputed oil fields that halted output after government troops…