International


COMMENTARY: Water Stress is Helping Drive Conflict and Migration

Sep 27, 2017 | Charles Iceland

Recent water-related tragedies in Syria, Africa’s Sahel region and elsewhere present the prospect of darker times ahead, but there are many things we can do…


Liberia: Two Presidential Candidates Clash over Land Reform Issue

Sep 26, 2017 | New Dawn

During a presidential debate held by Ducor Debate in Tubmanburg, Bomi County over the weekend, Oscar Xperience presidential candidate Sen. Oscar Cooper said if he…


DRC: Mining for Energy: The DRC’s Unlikely Power Solution

Sep 26, 2017 | Gabrielle Nina Mitch, Discourse Media

The mining industry offers a possible solution to the country’s energy crisis. Projects need power to operate, so what if, instead of generating their own…


Iraq/Kurdistan/Turkey: Turkey Warns Iraq Kurds It Can ‘Close the Valves’ on Oil Exports

Sep 25, 2017 | Onur Ant and Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg

Turkey can choose to “close the valves” on oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdish region through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil-Rich Kirkuk a Flash Point Ahead of Referendum in Iraq

Sep 25, 2017 | Iolo Ap Dafydd, TRT World

Being one of the oil-rich cities of Iraq, there is no surprise Kirkuk draws special interest and is sought after by both Iraqis and Kurds…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds in Iraq Vote in Historic Independence Referendum

Sep 25, 2017 | Tamer El-Ghobashy, Mustafa Salim, and Kareem Fahim, Washington Post

Kurds packed polling stations across northern Iraq on Monday in a historic referendum on independence despite vigorous opposition from the country’s central government as well…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Government Asks Foreign Countries to Stop Oil Trade with Kurdistan

Sep 24, 2017 | Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters

Iraq on Sunday urged foreign countries to stop importing crude directly from its autonomous Kurdistan region and to restrict oil trading to the central government.…


Sudan/South Sudan: Sudan, South Sudan Sign New Agreement on Controversial Oil

Sep 22, 2017 | Prensa Latina

Sudan and South Sudan signed two trade agreements, one of them to update the distribution of oil production and profits that are shared by both…


Myanmar: Villagers Decry Closure of Gold Mines Near Dam in Sagaing

Sep 21, 2017 | Khin Su Wai, Myanmar Times

Hundreds of villagers decried the closure of illegal gold mines in the vicinity of Thapanseik Dam in Sagaing Region, claiming the move has adversely affected their…


Sudan/South Sudan: Sudan Says Ready to Help South Sudan to Reopen Oil Fields

Sep 21, 2017 | Xinhua

Sudan on Wednesday said it was ready to provide technical assistance for South Sudan to reoperate its oil fields that were halted due to the…


Myanmar: Copper Mine to Extend Fences: Villagers

Sep 21, 2017 | Kaung Kant Lin, Eleven

As rumours spread about fences being on farmland near Sagaing Region's Letpadaungtaung copper mine, banners condemning the project have been displayed at Sede village in…


South Sudan: South Sudan Mulls Major Reforms in Mining Industry

Sep 21, 2017 | Song Lifang, Xinhua

South Sudan's ministry of mining said Thursday it would embark on sweeping reforms in the mining industry to ensure sustainable exploitation of natural resources and…


Liberia: Gbarpolu, Bong in Land Dispute

Sep 21, 2017 | New Dawn

The state-owned Liberia Broadcasting System or LBS, reports that the land in question situates in an area called Jungle James Camp, Lofa Bridge. The camp…


Iraq: Iraqis Track Abandoned Homes with Digital Tools

Sep 21, 2017 | Chris Arsenault, Thomson Reuters Foundation

In camps across northern Iraq, people forced from their homes by Islamic State militants are using their phones to track what is happening to their…


Afghanistan: Trump, Ghani Agree US Can Help Develop Afghanistan's Rare Earth Minerals

Sep 21, 2017 | Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday backed having companies from the United States develop Afghanistan’s reserves of rare earth minerals,…


Climate Change: Lessons in Climate Adaptation from the Military - Interview with Sherri Goodman

Sep 20, 2017 | International Affairs Review

Sherri Goodman is a Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Environmental Change and Security Program, the Global Women's Leadership Initiative,…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Chevron Drills Oil Well in Iraqi Kurdish Area after Two-Year Gap: Sources

Sep 20, 2017 | Ron Bousso and Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters

U.S. firm Chevron drilled its first exploration well this month in Iraqi Kurdistan after a two-year break, industry sources said, signaling its confidence in the…


Liberia: CSO Group Wants Land Rights Act Amendment before Passage

Sep 19, 2017 | Front Page Africa

The Civil Society Organization (CSO) working group on Land Rights in Liberia, in collaboration with the National Civil Society Council of Liberia has alarmed that…


Myanmar: Is Myanmar's Jade Business Driving Ethnic Tensions?

Sep 19, 2017 | Al Jazeera

Over the past few weeks, nearly 400,000 people escaping violence in Myanmar's eastern state of Rakhine have streamed into Bangladesh, creating a humanitarian crisis. The UN…


Myanmar: Monitoring System Updated for Thilawa SEZ and Yangon River

Sep 18, 2017 | Myat Moe Aung, Myanmar Times

Myanmar-Japan Thilawa Development Limited (MJTD) set up a weather monitoring system, using Japanese technology, at Thilawa Special Economic Zone and surface water level sensor on…


Colombia: Land Restitution: Chengue Dances Again

Sep 18, 2017 | Bogota Post

The 2016 delivery of a land restitution sentence brought little solace to the residents of Chengue, but when government agencies began delivering on orders, despair…


Afghanistan: First Plant to Produce Renewable Energy Inaugurated in Herat

Sep 17, 2017 | MIddle East North Africa Financial Network

The first ever plant solar to produce 2mw energy through wind and sun was inaugurated Sunday in Herat province. The contract of the plant was…


Myanmar: Water, Sanitation Crisis: Roadside Refugees Suffer the Brunt

Sep 17, 2017 | Pinaki Roy and Mohammad Ali Jinnat, Daily Star

Tens of thousands of Rohingyas, who are staying either in the open or in makeshift tents by the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf highway, hardly have any drinking…


Iraq: War and Dysfunctional Politics Threaten Iraq’s Marshlands

Sep 16, 2017 | Economist

The recovery of southern Iraq’s marshlands is arguably one of the great environmental triumphs of recent times. Reduced to dust and withered reeds when Saddam…


Afghanistan: Millions of Hectares of Land Remain Uncultivated in Afghanistan

Sep 16, 2017 | Zabihullah Jahanmal, TOLOnews

Officials from Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) said Afghanistan has 7.5 million hectares of arable land but only a small portion of the…


Middle East: Future Wars in Mideast Probably on Water: Iranian Diplomat

Sep 16, 2017 | Iran Front Page

Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi says the issue of water, water resources, coping with water scarcity, as well as…


Iraq/Kurdistan: OPEC's Second-Biggest Producer Could Possibly Split in Two — And Start an Oil War

Sep 15, 2017 | Sam Meredith, CNBC

An oil-rich province in the north of Iraq plans to vote in a referendum on Kurdish independence later this month, prompting fears of regional conflict…


Food Security: World Hunger Worsens as War, Climate Shocks Hit Food Access

Sep 15, 2017 | Agnieszka De Sousa, Bloomberg

The number of people suffering from hunger last year rose at the fastest pace since at least the beginning of this century as conflicts and…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds to Vote on Independence Despite Region's Fears

Sep 14, 2017 | Associated Press

Iraq's Kurds vote this month on whether or not they support independence for their enclave in the country's north, a step toward their long-held dream…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Western Powers Press Iraq Kurd Leaders to Shelve 'Very Risky' Independence Vote

Sep 14, 2017 | Raya Jalabi and Ulf Laessing, Reuters

The United States and Western allies pressed Iraqi Kurdish leaders to ditch a “very risky” independence vote on Thursday, presenting an alternative plan in an…