International
Afghanistan: Afghan Agricultural Exports Could Soar if Access to Overseas Markets Granted
Oct 22, 2016
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Abdul Haleem and Jawed Omid, Xinhua
To boost the sector in the foreign-aid dependent country, the Afghan government has been encouraging Afghan and foreign companies to invest in both agricultural and…
Cambodia: Man Charged with Land Grabbing
Oct 21, 2016
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Khmer Times
A 55-year-old farmer in Pursat province was charged yesterday with allegedly clearing community forest for his own use and encouraging others to do the same.…
DRC: The Policy Analyst Going after War Financing in the Congo
Oct 21, 2016
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Ozy
Holly Dranginis is a 32-year-old senior policy analyst for the Enough Project, an advocacy group dedicated to ending genocide and crimes against humanity. It’s not…
Sudan/South Sudan: Swedish Lundin Petroleum Company Investigated for Crimes in Sudan, South Sudan
Oct 21, 2016
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Sudan Tribune
A Swedish oil company, Lundin Petroleum, which operated in Sudan and the then Southern Sudan’s oil rich Unity state in the past, has been investigated…
Sudan: Lundin Petroleum CEO, Chairman to Be Questioned on Possible Sudan Crimes
Oct 21, 2016
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Reuters
Swedish prosecutors will question the CEO and chairman of Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum about possible crimes against international humanitarian law in Sudan, a company…
Iraq: Iraq's Oil Fields Burn as Government Forces Close in on Isil
Oct 20, 2016
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Telegraph
Iraqi special forces charged into the Mosul battle on Thursday with a pre-dawn advance on a nearby town held by the Islamic State group, a…
Liberia: The Growth of a New Palm Oil Frontier
Oct 20, 2016
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Clair MacDougall, Guardian
Open doors, fertile soils, high levels of rainfall and large tracts of uncultivated land made Liberia an obvious choice for palm oil companies, says Golden…
DRC: 'Catastrophic' Decline in Eastern Lowland Gorilla Blamed on Mining for Minerals Used in Mobile Phones
Oct 20, 2016
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Aislinn Laing, Telegraph
The Eastern lowland gorilla, the world's greatest ape, has suffered a "catastrophic decline" in the restive Democratic Republic of Congo, blamed on mining for minerals…
Myanmar: Illegal Myanmar Teak Importation Widespread to EU, Investigation Finds
Oct 19, 2016
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John C. Cannon, Mongabay
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released allegations Tuesday about what it says is the illegal importation of Burmese teak from Myanmar to the EU. In…
Afghanistan: Large Afghan Pomegranate Crop Threatened by Lack of Markets, Farmers Say
Oct 19, 2016
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Ismail Sameem, Reuters
Farmers in Afghanistan's fertile south harvested a bumper crop of deep red pomegranates this year, but they say barriers to international trade in the landlocked…
China/South China Sea: China Using Ecological Protection to Boost Claims in Disputed Waters
Oct 19, 2016
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Ralph Jennings, Voice of America
China's public order to keep away from a rare, environmentally unique ocean sinkhole in the Paracel Islands signals a new effort to tighten its grip…
Afghanistan: Research Farms Build Foundation for Afghanistan’s Agriculture
Oct 19, 2016
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World Bank
The agricultural engineers at the Urdo Khan Research Farm, one of 10 regional research stations across the country owned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation…
Myanmar: Jade Producers Hope to Get a Boost from Access to US Market
Oct 18, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
In terminating economic sanctions against Myanmar on October 7, the executive order signed by US President Barack Obama has opened the way to the resumption…
Afghanistan: Anti-Poppy Drive Remains Superficial in Past 15 Years: Survey
Oct 17, 2016
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Azizullah Hamdard, Pajhwok
A recent survey shows the fight against narcotics and policies in this regard have been only superficial and illusive over the past 15 years. Financed…
Iraq: LIfe under ISIS: Iraqis Choke as Sabotaged Oil Wells Blaze
Oct 13, 2016
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Ben Wedeman and Hamdi Alkhshali, CNN
ISIS militants had set the wells on fire hoping to obscure the view of Iraqi and coalition warplanes, but it didn't stop Iraqi forces from…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Kurds: Oil Rich, Still Poor - Drilling Down into the KRG's Oil Economy
Oct 12, 2016
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Erin Banco, IRIN
As global oil prices dropped off, KRG’s oil-dependent economy was hard-hit. Then, after taking Ramadi and Fallujah, IS focused its efforts north and began to…
Colombia: Plan Colombia Casts Shadow on Indigenous Rights as Peace Nears
Oct 12, 2016
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teleSUR
Marginalized Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Colombia have been among the most battered by more than five decades of internal armed conflict between the military,…
Liberia: Concessions Violate Women’s Rights
Oct 12, 2016
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Daily Observer
A research report released in Monrovia over the weekend by Natural Resources Women’s Platform (NRWP), the Alliance for Rural Democracy (ARD), and Green Advocates International…
Myanmar: Farmers Remain Camped on Military’s Disputed Land
Oct 11, 2016
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Si Thu Lwin, Myanmar Times
More than two dozen residents of a village tract purportedly owned by the military have dug their heels in. But after nine months through the…
Colombia: Legal Threats, Not War, Top Commodity Producers' Concerns in Colombia
Oct 11, 2016
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Julia Symmes Cobb and Nelson Bocanegra, Reuters
Gold mining companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars but not extracted a gram. Palm farmers are told their land belongs to someone else.…
Afghanistan: Afghan Women to Be Given 'Fair Share' in Property Rights Drive - Land Authority
Oct 11, 2016
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Zabihullah Noori, Reuters
Afghan women should benefit from a project to issue property titles to homeowners in Kabul, where more than two-thirds of the houses have no formal…
Iraq/Kurdistan: In Fight against Islamic State, Kurds Expand Their Territory
Oct 10, 2016
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Isabel Coles and Stephen Kalin, Reuters
This is how the map is being redrawn across Iraq and Syria: Groups fighting Islamic State are using the battle to settle older disputes and…
Peru: Illegal Gold Mining Fueling Crime, Violence in Peru
Oct 10, 2016
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Tristan Clavel, Insight Crime
A high-ranking Peruvian police officer recently linked rising violence in Madre de Dios to the region’s illegal gold mining industry, highlighting the various criminal activities…
Afghanistan/Iran: Iran, Afghanistan to Address Hirmand Border Issue
Oct 8, 2016
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Mehr News Agency
The pressing issue of current situation between Iran and Afghanistan is environmental disaster underway in Iranian side of the border where different governments of Afghanistan…
Myanmar: US Gems Association Eyes Trade Ties as Sanctions End
Oct 6, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times
The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) arrived in Myanmar for the first time this week to assess the gems sector and build trade relationships ahead…
Iraq: Iraq War Records Reignite Debate over US Use of Depleted Uranium
Oct 6, 2016
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Samuel Oakford, IRIN
Records detailing as many as 181,000 rounds of depleted uranium munitions shot in 2003 by American forces in Iraq have been unearthed by researchers, representing…
Afghanistan: Afghan Opium Production Increases as Eradication Collapses, UN Says
Oct 5, 2016
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Reuters
Opium production in Afghanistan increased this year to one of the highest levels on record as efforts to eradicate the crop in a country that…
Iraq: Iraqi Forces Burn ISIS Poppy Fields to Curtail Heroin and Opium Revenue
Oct 5, 2016
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Iraqi News
Iraqi security forces burned a 16 thousand square meter field planted with opium poppies belonging to ISIS gangs near Sharqat district in Salahuddin province. Iraqi media…
Iraq: Iraqi Qayyara Oil Keeps Burning Six Weeks after Ouster of Islamic State
Oct 5, 2016
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Reuters
Several wells in Iraq's Qayyara oilfield continue to burn six weeks after the U.S.-backed Iraqi forces ousted Islamic State militants from the town as part…
Sudan: Most of Sudan's Oil Opportunities Have Vanished, IMF Says
Oct 5, 2016
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Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International
Fragility in Sudan brought on by regional conflicts is exacerbated by the loss of most of its oil export potential, the International Monetary Fund said.…