International
Myanmar: China-backed Dam Project May Threaten Myanmar Wildlife Sanctuary
Mar 21, 2017
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Voice of America
Environmental activists say plans for a large dam threaten wildlife sanctuaries in Myanmar’s northern Karen state. China would finance the proposed Hatgyi dam on Southeast…
Colombia: Colombian Coffee Inspires Banana Growers to Reclaim Land Lost to Violence
Mar 21, 2017
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AL DÍA News
Growing along with the bunches of bananas in the plantations of Uraba in northwestern Colombia are the hopes of a region that is working to…
DRC: Congo Sees Trump Roll-Back of Dodd-Frank Stoking Insecurity
Mar 20, 2017
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Thomas Wilson, Bloomberg
The Democratic Republic of Congo warned that proposals by the Trump administration to rollback laws on so-called conflict minerals from central Africa risks stoking violence…
Colombia: Land Solutions for Climate Displacement Works in Colombia: Government-Supported Gramalote Relocation Moves Ahead
Mar 20, 2017
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Displacement Solutions
On 11 March 2017, a group of 54 families moved in the newly built town of Gramalote, Colombia some seven years after the decimation of the town…
Colombia: Into the Green Land: Emerald Mining in Colombia
Mar 20, 2017
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Javier Corso, Al Jazeera
The struggle over land is Colombia's oldest conflict. Although Colombian environmental laws now prohibit the dumping of leftover grit and rocks from mining excavation, some…
India/Pakistan: Water War to Water Talks
Mar 20, 2017
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Zeeshan Haider, The News
It is quite interesting to see the Indian water officials and experts sit across the table with their Pakistani counterparts to discuss the Indus Water…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Conflict over Kirkuk Oil Returns
Mar 19, 2017
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Omar Sattar, Al-Monitor
On March 2, a military force affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by former President Jalal Talabani seized the North Oil Company in Kirkuk…
Timor-Leste: East Timor to Elect New President as Oil Revenues Rapidly Run Dry
Mar 19, 2017
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Alexandre Assis, Reuters
East Timorese flocked to political rallies on the final day of campaigning ahead of Monday's presidential election, as Asia's youngest democracy grapples with persistent poverty…
Myanmar: 104 Ayeyawady Villages Set to Face Water Shortages
Mar 19, 2017
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Min Thu Win Htut, Eleven
Around 104 villages in 14 Ayeyawady Region townships may face water shortages in early April, according to the region's Rural Development Department. More than 80,000…
South Sudan: Fighting Famine in War-Torn South Sudan [Video]
Mar 19, 2017
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Scott Pelley
A rare famine emergency has been declared in the youngest nation on Earth. South Sudan, in East Africa, was brought into the world, in 2011,…
Iraq: Iraq’s Oil Ministry Fails to Counter Reputation Damage
Mar 19, 2017
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Saadallah Al Fathi, Gulf News
Theft of Iraq’s oil has been in the news since the occupation in 2003. The government failed to quell the allegations and continued to insist…
Afghanistan: Report Claims Land Grabbing Rampant In Helmand
Mar 18, 2017
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Tamim Hamid, TOLOnews
Documents received by TOLOnews show that thousands of acres of land have been usurped in southern Helmand province and that Lashkargah municipal officials have been…
Conflict Minerals: Trump Order on Conflict Minerals Would Send Warlords Carte Blanche Signal, Say Critics
Mar 18, 2017
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Joan Leishman, CBC news
A battle involving some of America's most powerful men and some of Africa's most powerful warlords is being waged in Donald Trump's White House. At…
Myanmar: Banana Plantation Breaches Protected Forests
Mar 17, 2017
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Eleven
Kachin State residents are reportedly seizing land from protected forests and selling it to Chinese entrepreneurs who want to grow tissue-culture bananas. An acre is…
South Sudan: South Sudan Government to Blame for Famine, Still Buying Arms: UN Report
Mar 17, 2017
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Michelle Nichols, Reuters
South Sudan's government is mainly to blame for famine in parts of the war-torn country, yet President Salva Kiir is still boosting his forces using…
China/Philippines/South China Sea: China Plans Station on Disputed South China Sea Shoal
Mar 17, 2017
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Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press
China plans to build an environmental monitoring station on a South China Sea shoal at the heart of a territorial dispute with the Philippines, potentially…
Myanmar: Dam Projects Must Be Suspended until Peace Achieved, Say Environmental Orgs
Mar 16, 2017
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Aong Jaeneh and Laignee Barron, Burma News International
In downtown Mawlamyine Capital of Mon State, a crowd of 200 gathered on March 14 to stage a protest against hydropower projects in conflict zones.…
India/Pakistan: Delhi Returns to the Table after Water War Threats
Mar 16, 2017
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Express Tribune
Pakistan and India are set to resume stalled water-sharing talks later this month under a 1960 treaty that the Indian prime minister had threatened to…
Sierra Leone: Pastor Unearths 706-Carat Giant Diamond in Sierra Leone
Mar 16, 2017
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Agence France-Presse
A pastor working in the mines of eastern Sierra Leone has unearthed a 706-carat diamond. The large stone was discovered by Emmanuel Momoh, one of…
Iraq: Meet the Iraqi Firefighters Battling ISIS' Oil Fires [Photos]
Mar 16, 2017
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Olivier Laurent, Time
For almost a year now, oil fields around Mosul have been on fire. As Iraqi forces launched an assault on Islamic State-held cities, retreating militants…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Analysis: Iraqi KRG Faces Obstacles to Maintain Crude Oil Export Quality
Mar 16, 2017
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Platts
The regional government of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan appears to be struggling to maintain the quality of its oil exports, just as it has signed a…
Conflict Minerals: Parliament Adopts Binding Law on Conflict Minerals
Mar 16, 2017
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Cécile Barbière, EURACTIV
After two and a half years of debate, the European Parliament on Thursday definitively adopted the new rules on mineral imports from conflict zones, which…
Liberia: Amid Delays, Citizens Increase Pressure on Lawmakers to Pass Land Right Act
Mar 16, 2017
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Gbatemah Senah, Bush Chicken
Just over two years since the proposed bill was submitted to the Legislature for passage into law, the Liberian Land Rights Act has continued to…
Afghanistan: Could New Poppy Strain Be Boosting Afghanistan's Opium Crop?
Mar 16, 2017
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Gul Ahmad Ehsan, Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Karam Khan, an opium poppy farmer from Helmand, is delighted that business is booming. New strains of seeds mean that poppy could be sewn and…
Myanmar: Battling for Blood Jade
Mar 15, 2017
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Hannah Beech, Time
While conflict diamonds have yielded Hollywood scripts and rap lyrics, jade has largely escaped international scrutiny. Last October, then U.S. President Barack Obama lifted sanctions…
Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste Could Be 'Architect of Its Own Demise', Gas Treaty Inquiry Told
Mar 15, 2017
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Australian Associated Press
Timor-Leste’s decision to rip up a treaty with Australia on the carve-up of future revenue from Greater Sunrise oil and gas reserve in the Timor…
Russia/US: Trump's Russian Connections May Kill 'Peace Park'
Mar 15, 2017
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Corbin Hiar, E&E News
With increased scrutiny of the Trump administration's possible ties to the Kremlin, a long-running National Park Service effort to promote cultural and scientific connections between…
Liberia: Chief Justice Korpkor Vows to Protect Property Rights in Liberia
Mar 15, 2017
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FrontPageAfrica
Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor says the Supreme Court has taken steps to protect the property right of citizens and has therefore warned judges of…
Colombia: Colombia's Coca Production Soars to Highest Level in Two Decades, US Says
Mar 14, 2017
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Associated Press
Coca production in Colombia has surged to levels unseen in two decades of US eradication efforts, according to a new White House report. Cultivation of…
Afghanistan: Funding Terrorism: Taliban Earns $15M a Year from Pistachios in Afghanistan
Mar 14, 2017
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John Walsh, International Business Times
The Taliban has earned $15 million annually from pistachio crops in the Afghanistan's northwestern Kushki Kuhna District. The terror group profited from the region’s two…