International


India/Pakistan: India Benefited More from the Indus Water Treaty

Apr 23, 2017 | Mustafa Nazir Ahmad, The News on Sunday

Dr Daanish Mustafa, a distinguished water resources expert, blames Pakistan’s policymakers for our current water woes. His research interests have been at the intersection of…


Liberia: Dutch Arms Trafficker to Liberia Given War Crimes Conviction

Apr 22, 2017 | Own Bowcott, Guardian

An international timber trader who used his business as cover for smuggling weapons into West Africa in defiance of a UN arms embargo has been…


Liberia: Dutch 'Blood Timber' Businessman Gets 19 Years for Liberian Crimes

Apr 21, 2017 | Channel NewsAsia

Dutch timber trader Guus Kouwenhoven was convicted on Friday as an accessory to war crimes for selling weapons to Liberia's then-President Charles Taylor between 2000…


South Sudan: South Sudan Faces Economic Collapse amid Humanitarian Crisis

Apr 21, 2017 | TRT World

South Sudan faces a collapsing economy amid conflict and humanitarian crisis as their currency has lost more than ninety percent of its value since December…


Afghanistan: MAIL Conducting Hundreds of Research Projects Annually

Apr 20, 2017 | Haidarshah Omid, TOLOnews

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) on Wednesday said that it carries out more than 300 research programs every year that are aimed…


Climate Change: How Climate Change Creates a Perfect Storm of Terrorism and Violence

Apr 20, 2017 | Martha Henriques, International Business Times

Stable states, as well as those experiencing civil conflict, face an increased risk of violence and terrorist activity due to climate change, according to a…


Iraq: Iraq May Seek Exemption from OPEC Oil Cuts to Boost Own Output: Hakim

Apr 20, 2017 | Mahmoud Mourad, Reuters

Iraq may seek to be exempt from a deal between oil exporters to reduce global supply in order to support crude prices and ask to…


North Korea: As North Korea Tensions Rise, Farming in the Demilitarized Zone Goes on

Apr 20, 2017 | Motoko Rich, New York Times

Taesung is a real community, albeit one with strict limits on who can come and go. The residents are mostly farmers from families that have…


China/South China Sea: China Seeks Foreign Help in Risky Work Finding Oil in Disputed Sea

Apr 19, 2017 | Ralph Jennings, Voice of America

Beijing is looking for foreign contractors to help find oil and gas under the South China Sea but expects to meet resistance because other governments…


Climate Change: How a Warming Planet Drives Human Migration

Apr 19, 2017 | Jessica Benko, New York Times

Climate change is not equally felt across the globe, and neither are its longer term consequences. This map overlays human turmoil — represented here by…


Colombia: UN, Colombia Assess Post-Conflict Environmental Damage

Apr 18, 2017 | Faye Leone, International Institute for Sustainable Development

UN experts conducted a post-conflict, multi-disciplinary assessment of environmental degradation in Colombia, concluding that the country has an opportunity to promote sustainable and resilient livelihoods…


Iraq: Iraq Plans Three Gas Processing Plants to Reduce Flaring

Apr 17, 2017 | Reuters

Iraq plans to build three new plants to process natural gas currently being flared at southern oil fields, and use the fuel for power generation…


Afghanistan: Water Supply Maintenance Provides Short-Term Jobs in Karmalik Village

Apr 17, 2017 | World Bank

Shiny new pipelines connect the water storage tank to the tanker parked beside the main road of Karmalik village. The tanker provides sufficient drinking water…


Myanmar: Oil Pipeline to Myanmar ‘at Risk from Rebels’

Apr 16, 2017 | Kristin Huang, South China Morning Post

Although a crude-oil pipeline from Myanmar to China is finally running, its operations still face serious risks from the conflict in northern Myanmar, observers said.…


South Sudan: Kiir Signs Suspicious Oil Agreements to Turn Around Fortunes of Economy

Apr 15, 2017 | Julius Barigaba, East African

The South Sudanese government is signing deals with suspected wheelerdealers, some of whom may be out to take advantage of Juba's financial crisis. In less…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan Plans Water Treaty with Afghanistan

Apr 13, 2017 | S. Mudassir Ali Shah, Pajhwok Afghan News

Afghan and Pakistani experts are expected to meet soon to exchange water data and the hydrology of Kabul and Kunar rivers, a news report said…


Timor-Leste: As Maritime Agreement with Australia Dissolves, Timor-Leste Left Exposed

Apr 13, 2017 | Maciej Heyman, MilTech

On 10 April this year, the 2006 Certain Maritime Agreement on the Timor Sea (CMATS) was terminated. CMATS was an agreement between Australia and Timor-Leste…


Conflict Minerals: Apple, Intel Carry on as SEC Relaxes Conflict Minerals Scrutiny

Apr 13, 2017 | Andrea Vittorio, Securities Law Daily

Relaxed regulatory scrutiny won’t stop companies like Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. from reporting as usual next month about efforts to keep minerals that fund…


China/Myanmar: New Myanmar Oil Pipeline Bolsters China's Energy Security

Apr 13, 2017 | Wataru Kodaka and Yuichi Nitta, Nikkei

The opening of an oil pipeline through Myanmar is a big step forward for China's energy security, reducing the major importer's reliance on shipments through waters where the…


Landmines: Glowing Bacteria Offer Hope for Safe Detection of 100m Landmines

Apr 13, 2017 | Peter Beaumont, Guardian

A team of researchers at an Israeli university has successfully tested a technology using fluorescent bacteria and lasers that could become a safer system for…


Myanmar: Rescuing Myanmar’s Farmers from the Debt Trap

Apr 12, 2017 | Economist

Many farmers borrow to cover planting costs, buy equipment or purchase land, and repay after the harvest. Under the junta that isolated Myanmar for decades,…


Afghanistan: Strongmen, Locals Cutting down Kunduz Forests

Apr 12, 2017 | Bashir Ahmad Naadim, Pajhwok Afghan News

Residents and officials say they are worried about illegal cutting down of forest trees in northern Kunduz province, asking the government to stop the practice.…


Liberia: Impact Assessment Concluded for 120MW Hydro Project

Apr 10, 2017 | ESI Africa

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded a meeting with residents of Grand Bassa and Bong Counties on the environmental and social impact of…


Afghanistan: Afghan Demining Program under Threat over Budget Deficit

Apr 10, 2017 | Gulabudin Ghubar, TOLOnews

Wais Ahmad Barmak, Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, on Monday said that the demining program in Afghanistan is under threat following the drop in…


Iraq: Land Grabs in Iraq

Apr 10, 2017 | Vera Mironova and Mohammed Hussein, Foreign Affairs

With the fall of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) seemingly imminent, nearly every Iraqi political group and its associated militia have been rushing…


China/Myanmar: China Says Accord Reached at Last with Myanmar on Oil Pipeline

Apr 10, 2017 | Christian Shepherd, Reuters

China and Myanmar have reached an agreement on an oil pipeline between the neighbouring countries after almost a decade of talks, with the project due…


Afghanistan: Continued Militancy, Poverty Push Afghan Farmers to Grow Poppy

Apr 9, 2017 | Abdul Haleem and Abdul Aziz Safdari, XInhua

A former stronghold of Taliban and the hotbed of the armed militants currently, the troubled Helmand province been the scene of fierce fighting between government…


Liberia: Liberia, EU Sign Agreement to Strengthen Forestry Sector

Apr 9, 2017 | FrontPageAfrica

The agreement was signed by Ambassador Tina Intelmann, Head of the European Union delegation and Sister Mary Laurene Browne, Chair of the Board of Directors…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Only 25 Are Kurds out of 1000 Employed by Baghdad in Kirkuk Oil Fields, Official

Apr 8, 2017 | Rudaw

Of the nearly 1,000 people who were recently employed by the Iraqi North Oil Company (NOC) in Kirkuk, only 25 are Kurdish, displaying Baghdad’s increasing…


Liberia: Green Advocates Train Liberian Communities on Alternative Recourse Mechanism

Apr 8, 2017 | FrontPageAfrica

Local communities have protested the presence of large scale mining and agricultural companies like Golden Veroleum Liberia, Sime Darby and ArcelorMittal Liberia in Nimba County…