International


Colombia: Large Land Owners Seek to Tighten Grip on Land Stolen from Colombia’s Displaced Farmers

May 27, 2016 | Thomas Graham, Colombia Reports

Senators with ties to large landowners have proposed a change to the Colombia’s Victims Law that would make it much harder for displaced farmers to reclaim land…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iranian, Afghan Environment Chiefs Discuss Hamoun Lake Preservation

May 27, 2016 | Tehran Times

The chief of Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE) and the director general of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) discussed issues related to Hamoun Lake…


Liberia: Dangerous Path in Monrovia: Flood Disaster Put Pipeline Community at Risk

May 26, 2016 | Willie N. Tokpah, FrontPageAfrica

Flood disaster has caused serious impediment for residents in the Montserrado County densely populated Community of Pipeline stalling the movement of vehicles and inhabitants living…


Myamar: Can the New Government Protect Myanmar’s Water Resources?

May 26, 2016 | Ashok Manandhar, Myanmar Times

In the last days of former president U Thein Sein’s reign, the National Water Resources Committee was disbanded and has yet to be replaced. This…


Afghanistan: Taliban Instability Could Fuel Opium Trade

May 26, 2016 | Justin Rowlatt, BBC News

Mullah Mansour, Afghan Taliban leader and the commander of a militia of thousands of men, died a lonely death. US President Barack Obama described his…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Why Kurdistan Can't Sell Its Oil

May 26, 2016 | Seth J. Frantzman, National Interest

In an interview published in February 2015, Donnie Macdonald, the president of oil giant Chevron’s operations in Iraq, had glowing praise for the Kurdistan autonomous…


Companies File Conflict Minerals: Third Round of Conflict Minerals Reports, SEC, Government Agencies Must Follow through

May 26, 2016 | Enough Project

May 31st marks the third annual deadline for electronics, manufacturing, and other companies to file conflict minerals reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),…


South Sudan: Oil-Infrastructure Damage Cuts Output Further in South Sudan

May 26, 2016 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

Oil output in South Sudan declined to as little as 120,000 barrels per day because of damage caused by a 2 1/2-year civil war to…


Liberia: Liberia Grand Jury Indicts Sable Mining, Officials for Bribery

May 26, 2016 | James Harding Giahyue, Reuters

A grand jury in Liberia on Wednesday indicted government officials, including the speaker of parliament and the head of the ruling party, along with London…


Colombia: Colombia Using Just 35% of Its Agricultural Land: Report

May 25, 2016 | Stephen Gill, Colombia Reports

65% of Colombia’s farmland is not used or underused, according to a government report published Tuesday. The Unit of Rural Agro-economic Planning (UPRA), which was given…


Myanmar: Myanmar Government to Return Seized Land to Farmers in Sagaing Region

May 25, 2016 | Radio Free Asia

Myanmar’s government plans to return 2,500 acres of confiscated land to farmers in Tant-Se township in the country’s northwestern Sagaing region, more than 35 years…


Liberia: Explanation of Vote at the Adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2288 on Liberia Sanctions Termination

May 25, 2016 | United States Mission to the United Nations

Remarks by Ambassador David Pressman: Thank you, Mr. President. As we terminate these sanctions today, it is worth recalling how far Liberia has come. Today…


Myanmar: As Lines Form for Water, Myanmar Pins Hopes on Suu Kyi

May 25, 2016 | Esther Htusan, Associated Press

Every year at this time, the ponds and wells go dry. People walk for hours to fill their plastic buckets at a lotus-filled pond that…


Iraq: Construction of Iraqi Oil-Gas Pipeline Expected to Start This Year — Envoy

May 25, 2016 | Mohammad Ghazal, Jordan Times

Construction of the oil pipeline between Iraq and Jordan is expected to start this year, according to the Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Safia Al Souhail.…


Itaq/Kurdistan: As Baghdad Government Stumbles, Iraqi Kurdistan Officials Call for Partition

May 25, 2016 | Erin Banco, International Business Times

Kirkuk Gov. Najmaldin Karim swept to office on the promise of oil-fueled prosperity for residents of the Kurdish-majority province in northern Iraq. But, with oil exports at a record low, it's a pledge…


South Sudan: Babies Born with Congenital Malformation in Oil Areas of Unity State

May 25, 2016 | Radio Tamazuj

The minister of information in South Sudan’s proposed Ruweng state in northern Unity said on Tuesday there are incidents of congenital malformation among newborn children in oil…


Liberia: Last Liberia Sanctions, Vestige of Civil War, Are Lifted

May 25, 2016 | Somini Sengupta, New York Times

More than a decade after the end of Liberia’s last civil war, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to lift the remaining…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iran Leader Calls for Resolving Water Issue with Afghanistan

May 24, 2016 | Khalid Kazimov, Trend

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for resolving an issue over sharing the waters of the Helmand River between Iran and Afghanistan. At…


Iraq: Power Outages Reduce Iraq Oil Output

May 24, 2016 | Trade Arabia

Iraq is pumping around 4.5 million barrels of oil per day, a senior official said on Tuesday, as issues including maintenance and power outages slow…


Myanmar: Myanmar Jade Mine Landslide Kills at Least 12 in Kachin

May 24, 2016 | BBC

Rescue efforts are underway in Myanmar's jade-producing area after a landslide killed at least 12 people with fears that there may be as many as…


Myanmar: Protestors Call for Closure of Gold Mine

May 24, 2016 | Democratic Voice of Burma

Around 40 residents staged a protest on Monday calling for the shutdown of a gold-mining operation near Uru Creek in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township. Residents…


Agriculture Sector Key to Protecting Livelihoods, Addressing Conflict and Climate Change Risks

May 23, 2016 | Agriculture Industry Today

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries are central to ensuring food security and protecting livelihoods and play a key role in changing the way we manage risks…


Africa: World Bank Study Highlights Artisinal Mining Challenges in Central Africa

May 23, 2016 | Mining Review Africa

Women have been known to break boundaries which have persisted to box them into certain classifications of occupations, mining has also been one of those…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Turns to the US and Others to Help Fund the Future of its Crude Oil [Audio]

May 23, 2016 | S&P Global Platts

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has been hard hit by the oil price plunge of late, but it is attempting to pull its oil industry out…


China/South China Sea: Why the South China Sea Has More Oil Than You Think

May 23, 2016 | Hellenic Shipping News

With all of China’s geopolitical posturing in the South China Sea, many are claiming that Beijing’s aim to control more than 80% of the troubled…


Myanmar: Communities Demand Regulation as Jade Mining Destroys Landscape

May 23, 2016 | Htet Khaung Linn, Myanmar Now

Local activists and communities have also begun asking for changes in Myanmar's multi-billion dollar jade industry. They demand that authorities mitigate its heavy environmental impacts…


Colombia: Colombians Displaced by Conflict Are Moving Home, but Still Living in Fear

May 23, 2016 | The Conversation

Colombia is finally close to signing a peace accord to formally end to its decades-long armed conflict, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of…


Israel/Palestine: Israeli Land Grabs Benefit Palestinians, State Tells High Court

May 22, 2016 | Chaim Levinson, Haaretz

Landowners from Anata are demanding the state cancel order expropriating their lands for Ma'aleh Adumim, but the state says residents benefit from order by finding…


Liberia: President Sirleaf Launches E-Registration Platform; Commends Farmers for Making Liberia a Food Secured Nation

May 22, 2016 | Executive Mansion

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Saturday launched Liberia’s e- Registration  Platform for farmers in the country and commanded them for  making the nation a food…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: Border Dispute at Angoor Adda Resolved

May 22, 2016 | Mushtaq Yusufzai, The News International

Pakistan on Saturday handed over a multi-purpose built crossing facility at the Angoor Adda border in South Waziristan to Afghanistan. Angoor Adda borders Afghanistan’s restive…