International
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Rejects $7.77m Bid for 709-Carat Diamond, Seeks Higher Offer
May 12, 2017
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Agence France-Presse
Sierra Leone’s government said Thursday it would seek higher offers in Belgium for a massive 709-carat diamond found by an Evangelical preacher after underwhelming offers…
Afghanistan: Resettling Nearly Half a Million Afghans in Nangrahar: The Consequences of the Mass Return of Refugees
May 12, 2017
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Fazal Muzhary, Afghanistan Analysts Network
Most of the 600,000 Afghans who returned from Pakistan last year chose to settle in the eastern border province of Nangrahar. This has put considerable…
Myanmar: River Conservation for 179 Rivers with a K4.4 Billion
May 12, 2017
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Pyae Thet Phyo, Myanmar Times
River conservation works for 179 rivers in the country will be conducted in 2018 using K 4.4 billion of the Union Budget. Department of Water…
Afghanistan: Is There Still Hope for China, Afghanistan’s Long-Stalled US$3 Billion Copper Mining Deal?
May 12, 2017
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Laura Zhou, South China Morning Post
Efforts are being made to resolve a stalled copper mining deal between China and Afghanistan, a decade after the US$3 billion contract was signed, according…
Myanmar: Land Rights Major Risk for EU-Myanmar IPA
May 12, 2017
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Thompson Chau, Myanmar Times
On the Myanmar side, the report recommends fully transparent and systematic consultation on policies, laws and secondary regulation by the Directorate of Investment and Company…
Bangladesh: Chittagong Hill Tracts: Special Forces Prevent Delegation from Conducting Land-Grabbing Research
May 12, 2017
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Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
An investigative delegation to Bandarban was blocked by security officials and a team comprised of journalists, human rights advocates and civil society actors were prevented…
Iraq: Iraqis Dig Their Own Wells in Battle-Scarred Mosul
May 12, 2017
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Ahmed Aboulenein, Reuters
The families start queuing every day near the well in Mosul's Karaj al-Shamal neighborhood, filling their large plastic containers with sulphurous, nearly undrinkable water. As…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Says Has "Positive" Talks with Vietnam on South China Sea
May 11, 2017
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Reuters
The leaders of China and Vietnam had "positive" talks about the disputed South China Sea on Thursday with neither side criticising the other, a senior…
Liberia: Setting the Stage for Peaceful Co-Existence in Concession Communities
May 11, 2017
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New Dawn
Affected Communities in concession areas have resolved to maintain a peaceful and harmonious relationship with concession companies operating within their Counties. Representatives from project affected…
Colombia: Farmers of Almost 34% of Colombia’s Coca Agree to Change Crops: Report
May 10, 2017
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Stephen Gill, Colombia Reports
Farmers that grow almost 34% of Colombia’s coca have agreed to take part in a government program to replace their illicit crops with a legal alternative,…
Colombia: Colombia Police Shoot Indigenous People during Land Ceremony
May 10, 2017
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teleSUR
Colombia’s Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, announced in a press release on Tuesday that recent police aggression involving a firearm resulted in…
DRC: Cobalt-Mining Boys Given Hope - but Many Still Suffer [Video]
May 10, 2017
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Alex Crawford, Sky News
Sky News has found children continue to work long hours in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - months after multinational corporations…
Liberia: In Liberia, a Battered Palm Oil Industry Adjusts to New Rules
May 10, 2017
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Ashoka Mukpo, Mongabay
At the heart of the palm oil industry’s woes in Liberia are clauses in their contracts in which the Liberian government promised the land they…
Colombia: Colombias Former President and Two Ministers Guilty of Land Grabbing: Comptroller General
May 10, 2017
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Jamie Vaughan Johnson, Colombia Reports
Colombia’s Comptroller General on Tuesday accused former president Alvaro Uribe and the current and former agriculture ministers of illegally taking land meant for less fortunate farmers.…
Myanmar: 150,000 Migratory Water Birds Protected as Myanmar’s Gulf of Mottama Designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention
May 10, 2017
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Ramsar
Myanmar designates the Gulf of Mottama as a Wetland of International Importance. The Gulf of Mottama is one of the world’s most dynamic estuaries and…
Iraq: Mosul Fires Stop Burning, but Fuel a New Awareness
May 10, 2017
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UNEP
After seven months of spurting flames and thick black smoke, the last oil well fire in the Mosul conflict in Iraq has been put out.…
Brazil: Nine Dead in Amazon's Worst Land-Related Killings in Decades
May 10, 2017
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Fabiano Maisonnave, Guardian
Nine men were stabbed or shot dead on 19 April over a territorial dispute in a remote area of Mato Grosso state, deep in the…
Myanmar: For Myanmar’s Displaced, Landmines Stand in the Way of Returning Home
May 8, 2017
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International Committee of the Red Cross
Decades of ongoing conflict have left Myanmar heavily contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). Many people live in fear of the cluster munition remnants.…
Myanmar: Burma Army to Remove Landmines in Karen State
May 8, 2017
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Lawi Weng & Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint, Irrawaddy
The Burma Army will remove landmines in Karen State following an agreement with the Karen National Union (KNU), according to Col Wunna Aung, spokesperson for…
Myanmar: Residents Yet to Get Myanmar-China Pipeline Compensation
May 8, 2017
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Nay Aung, Myanmar Times
Crops had been pressed down by soil and landslides have occurred on cultivated fields near the Myanmar-China oil pipeline in the Ngape township of the…
Food Security: WFP Report Highlights Link between Food Insecurity and Migration
May 8, 2017
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Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey, Reuters
The World Food Programme (WFP) has indicated that food insecurity and hunger are major factors driving people away from their homes. In a new report…
Liberia: Illegal Sand Mining Ruining Coastal Communities in Liberia
May 7, 2017
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Lennart Dodoo, FrontPageAfrica
Several communities that once lined Liberia’s coast are now under the Atlantic Ocean and the country risks losing more communities, infrastructures and key landmarks to…
Sierra Leone: Bridge in Sierra Leone Sparks Row over Diamond Mining
May 6, 2017
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Cooper Inveen, Reuters
A dispute over a bridge in eastern Sierra Leone thought to span diamond deposits has divided a local community with a foreign mining company accused…
Africa: A New Dam on the Nile Reveals Threats from Warming
May 5, 2017
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Kavya Balaraman, ClimateWire
Climate change could play a role in exacerbating water conflict in Africa, likely worsening geopolitical wrangling over issues like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The…
Myanmar: Army Ready to Clear Kayin Land Mines
May 5, 2017
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Zarli Myint Oo and Chan Wai Soe, Eleven
The army will lead mine clearance operations in ethnic-minority areas if they have agreement from armed groups, with work set to start in Kayin State,…
Timor-Leste: Jose Ramos-Horta Warns Gas Dispute with Australia Risks Pushing East Timor Closer to China
May 5, 2017
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ABC News
East Timor's former president Jose Ramos-Horta has issued a blunt warning to Australia that the gas dispute between the two countries risks pushing Timor closer…
Conflict Minerals: Rights Groups Refuse Participation In State Department Conflict Minerals Consultation
May 5, 2017
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ValueWalk
Global Witness and Amnesty International have today published an open letter, highlighting their objections to the US State Department’s recent consultation on responsible mineral sourcing. This…
India/Myanmar: Pangsha Landowners at Indo-Myanmar Border Irked by Survey Carried out without Consent
May 5, 2017
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Morung Express
After the construction of the Indo-Myanmar border fencing at pillar 146 of Pangsha area under Noklak division of Tuensang district was on put halt as…
Myanmar: No New Quarrying Licenses to Be Issued in Mon State Forest Reserve
May 5, 2017
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Zue Zue, Irrawaddy
No new quarrying licenses will be issued in Mt. Kalama Forest Reserve in Mon State’s Paung Township, according to the Mon State divisional government, where…
Afghanistan: Effort to Revive Afghan Pistachio Crop Hampered by Taliban
May 4, 2017
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Khalil Noorzai and Gulrahim Niazman
Farmers in some parts of Afghanistan are trying to revive pistachio crops as an alternative to the opium poppy crops, but they are running into…