International
Colombia: Colombia Declares National Emergency after Banana Fungus Outbreak
Aug 9, 2019
|
Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports
Colombia’s Ministry of Agriculture declares a national emergency after receiving evidence of a fungus outbreak affecting bananas in the north of the country. According to…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Reviews Mining Licenses
Aug 9, 2019
|
African Review
The government of Sierra Leone is reviewing mining licences and contracts, aimed at ensuring investments into extractives are in line with development needs. Despite having significant…
Afghanistan: Erratic Swings in Weather Patterns Add to Afghans' Woes
Aug 9, 2019
|
Shadi Khan Saif, Anadolu Agency
The heated global debate over climate change hardly sounds relevant to war-ravaged Afghanistan, but the mountainous country is quietly bearing the brunt of its effects.The…
Uganda: How Karamoja First Policewoman's Land Was Grabbed
Aug 8, 2019
|
Joseph Olanyo, Observer
After serving the Uganda Police Force diligently for the last 44 years, Rtd Sergeant Mariam Sunday Lokisa knew she would retire happily to her matrimonial…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan’s Massive Gas Reserves No One Knows about
Aug 7, 2019
|
Simon Watkins, OilPrice
Barely a month goes past without another indication of the vast gas potential still largely untapped in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Last…
Afghanistan: Inside Afghanistan's Desperate Battle to Control a Dam in Taliban Country
Aug 6, 2019
|
Andrew Quilty, Vice
It was after midnight when red tracer rounds spat from government lines in Helmand’s Kajaki District across a band of darkness toward a second line…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Community's Suit against Diamond Miner Shows Activist Trend
Aug 6, 2019
|
Cooper Inveen, Reuters
The water “makes us get headaches and feel sick in our stomachs,” said Adi Kalie Bangura. Bangura’s claims are part of those made by a…
Iraq: Climate Change Is Exacerbating Iraq’s Complicated Water Politics
Aug 6, 2019
|
Theodore Karasik and Jacopo Spezia Depretto, Fair Observer
Today, what is commonly known as the Fertile Crescent — the cradle of civilization and the Garden of Eden — is not so fertile anymore.…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Community's Suit against Diamond Miner Shows Activist Trend
Aug 6, 2019
|
Cooper Inveen, Reuters
Across Africa and the developing world, local groups are increasingly mounting legal challenges against companies extracting minerals, said David Pred, executive director of Inclusive Development…
Myanmar: Work on Expediting Land Compensation Continues
Aug 5, 2019
|
Yee Ywal Myint, Myanmar Times
The government continues work on expediting compensation for people, especially farmers, who had land appropriated for urban development, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Police Disperse Protest at Chinese Embassy over South China Sea Standoff
Aug 5, 2019
|
James Pearson, Reuters
Vietnamese police on Tuesday broke up a brief protest outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi against Beijing’s maritime survey of an offshore block in the…
Afghanistan: MoMP Inks 9 Marble Extraction Agreements Worth $23m
Aug 5, 2019
|
Afghanistan Times
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) on Monday inked nine multimillion dollars' worthagreements of marble mining in western Herat province, incorporating amendments at the…
DRC: Ntaganda and ICC: The Conviction of a Congolese War Lord
Aug 5, 2019
|
Ndubuaku Kanayo, Fair Planet
"The law is made for man, not man for the law", the precise words of William Godwin a journalist and political philosopher seem to be…
Iraq/Turkey: Iraq's Oil Expansion May Be Set back on Turkish Dam Project
Aug 5, 2019
|
Miriam Malek, S&P Global Platts
Iraq's oil expansion may be in jeopardy after Turkey reportedly started a dam that could reduce water flows to energy companies operating in OPEC's second-largest…
Myanmar: Myanmar’s Environmental Challenges
Aug 2, 2019
|
Gregory McCann, Asia Sentinel
After eight years collecting dust on the planning shelves and also at the confluence of the Mali and N’mai Rivers in upper Burma, the Chinese…
Mali: Wetlands International Emphasises Conflict-Sensitive and Human-Security Approaches to Infrastructure as New Malian Government Takes Office
Aug 2, 2019
|
Wetlands International
Water infrastructure must be ‘conflict-sensitive’ and coordinated between ministries representative of all stakeholders if future escalation of violence in Mali is to be avoided, according…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone to Draft Overarching Chemical Law by 2023
Aug 1, 2019
|
Chemical Watch
Sierra Leone is drafting an overarching regulatory framework on chemicals by 2023, as part of a plan of regulatory, capacity building and awareness-raising actions that…
Myanmar: Four People, Including Official, Arrested in Deadly Land Dispute
Aug 1, 2019
|
Sit Htet Aung, Myanmar Times
Four people, including a village administrator, have been arrested for casualties resulting from a dispute over fertile land in Yenangyaung township of Magwe Region. The conflict…
South Sudan: South Sudan to Improve Legal Framework in Oil and Gas Sector
Aug 1, 2019
|
Mandisa Nduli, Africa Oil & Power
The African Development Bank, through its African Legal Support Facility and the National Petroleum and Gas Commission (NPGC) of South Sudan, has selected Centurion Law…
Climate Change: Sun Valley Climate Conference’s Broad Agenda: Wildfires, Military, Insurance, Resilience
Aug 1, 2019
|
Don Jergler, Insurance Journal
Washington had a record 1,850 responses to wildfires on Department of Natural Resources lands last year. Over the last five years, wildfires have continued to…
Finland: Advance of Climate Change a Threat to Security in Finland, Says Expert
Jul 31, 2019
|
Helsinki Times
Jarno Limnéll, a professor of cybersecurity at Aalto University, has reminded that climate issues and their direct and indirect ramifications for security should not be…
DRC: US Agency Provides $3.7 Million to Combat Illegal Mining in DRC
Jul 31, 2019
|
Ajifowoke Michael Gbenga, Ventures
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided $3.7 million to support the fight against illegal mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo…
Afghanistan: Illegal Mining Reduces Lapis Lazuli Prices in Afghanistan: Study
Jul 30, 2019
|
Tamim Hamid, TOLOnews
An investigation by TOLOnews reveals that lapis lazuli prices have reduced unprecedently times due to illegal mining in one of the main deposits of the…
Rangers—Unsung Heroes of Wildlife Conservation
Jul 30, 2019
|
UN Environment
World Ranger Day, an initiative of the International Ranger Federation, is marked on 31 July to celebrate the work rangers do to protect the planet’s natural…
Myanmar: War and Business: Kachin’s ‘Frontline’ Hydropower Dam
Jul 29, 2019
|
Ye Mon and Thomas Kean, Frontier
Despite Myanmar’s dire need for power, a US$250 million hydropower plant on the front lines of the Kachin conflict has been largely idle since the…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Could Baghdad and Erbil End Iraq's Protacted Oil Dispute?
Jul 28, 2019
|
Agence France-Presse
Iraq's federal authorities and the cash-strapped Kurdish regional government (KRG) have relaunched talks over longstanding oil and budget disputes, but observers are sceptical they will…
Iraq: Iraq's Oil and Gas Industry Aims to Be Energy Independent [Video]
Jul 28, 2019
|
Osama Bin Javaid, Al Jazeera
Years of war and instability have damaged Iraq's gas and oil infrastructure, leaving it dependent on energy imports, despite having huge reserves. Now it wants…
Myanmar: At Least 25 Dead after Myanmar Land Dispute
Jul 27, 2019
|
Dhaka Tribune
At least 25 people died when a land dispute in Myanmar turned violent this week, a regional MP said Friday, as details were still emerging…
South Sudan: South Sudan Tries to Protect Wildlife after Long Conflict
Jul 27, 2019
|
Sam Mednick, Associated Press
South Sudan is trying to rebuild its six national parks and 13 game reserves, which cover more than 13% of the country’s terrain, following the…
Myanmar: Police Investigate after 38 Feared Dead Following Violent Myanmar Land Dispute
Jul 27, 2019
|
Mizzima
At least 25 people died following violence this week, a shocked regional MP said Friday at a press conference in Magway, as details were still…