News


Timor-Leste: Jose Ramos-Horta Warns Gas Dispute with Australia Risks Pushing East Timor Closer to China

May 5, 2017 | ABC News

East Timor's former president Jose Ramos-Horta has issued a blunt warning to Australia that the gas dispute between the two countries risks pushing Timor closer…


Conflict Minerals: Rights Groups Refuse Participation In State Department Conflict Minerals Consultation

May 5, 2017 | ValueWalk

Global Witness and Amnesty International have today published an open letter, highlighting their objections to the US State Department’s recent consultation on responsible mineral sourcing. This…


India/Myanmar: Pangsha Landowners at Indo-Myanmar Border Irked by Survey Carried out without Consent

May 5, 2017 | Morung Express

After the construction of the Indo-Myanmar border fencing at pillar 146 of Pangsha area under Noklak division of Tuensang district was on put halt as…


Myanmar: No New Quarrying Licenses to Be Issued in Mon State Forest Reserve

May 5, 2017 | Zue Zue, Irrawaddy

No new quarrying licenses will be issued in Mt. Kalama Forest Reserve in Mon State’s Paung Township, according to the Mon State divisional government, where…


Call for Papers: Annual Conference of the International Association for Peace and Conflict Studies

May 4, 2017 | International Association for Peace and Conflict Studies

Academic critiques of contemporary peacebuilding have shown a tendency in recent years to limit their analytical focus to the cultural, institutional, normative and political mismatches…


Afghanistan: Effort to Revive Afghan Pistachio Crop Hampered by Taliban

May 4, 2017 | Khalil Noorzai and Gulrahim Niazman

Farmers in some parts of Afghanistan are trying to revive pistachio crops as an alternative to the opium poppy crops, but they are running into…


Iraq: Iraq Reborn: The Slow Renaissance of Hammar Marshes

May 4, 2017 | Suadad al-Salhy, Middle East Eye

One of the world's most important wetlands, the marshlands used to be a source of fresh water, and home to wide range of fish, rare…


Sudan: Reaping the Benefits of Better Catchment Management in North Darfur

May 4, 2017 | UNEP

Resilience as a result of a better water management.  When the project team surveyed 12 random village councils from across the project’s 34, it found…


Afghanistan/India/Pakistan: Pak to Work with India, Afghan on Water Management

May 3, 2017 | Sajjad Hussain, Press Trust of India

Pakistan is seeking a joint mechanism with India and Afghanistan for watershed management and trans-boundary aquifer sharing to minimise the negative impact of development projects.…


Myanmar: Gov’t Takes Steps to Protect People from Ravages of Climate Change

May 3, 2017 | Government of Myanmar

The Union Ministries have teamed up to manage all the water resources of Myanmar to fight flood and drought induced by climate change. At the…


Myanmar: Foreign NGOs Accused of Instigating Opposition against Myitsone Dam

May 3, 2017 | Myanmar Times

The One Belt One Road initiative (OBOR) – Beijing’s grand design to connect China and Eurasia with roads and railways and other transport infrastructures –…


Myanmar: Burma Army Seizes More Than 400 Tons of Sawn Logs

May 3, 2017 | Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint, Irrawaddy

The Burma Army seized 15 trucks and 402 tons of unattended teak and kino (gum) sawn logs in Nansang Township, southern Shan State, on April…


Yemen: Yemen Conflict Leaves 17m People at Risk of Malnutrition

May 3, 2017 | RJ Whitehead, Food Navigator Asia

As Yemen’s conflict continues, two thirds of the country’s population are now suffering from severe food insecurity.


Sierra Leone: How I Funded My Studies by Digging for Sierra Leone Diamonds

May 3, 2017 | Umaru Fofana, BBC Africa

In my teens, I worked as an artisanal miner, waist deep in water, sieving the gravel to find a diamond. Growing up in diamond-rich eastern…


Iraq: Iraq's Fuel Oil Exports Soar Despite OPEC Supply Cut

May 3, 2017 | Roslan Khasawneh, Reuters

Iraqi fuel oil exports have soared since January despite a reduction in the country's crude production in line with OPEC supply cuts, industry sources said,…


Climate Change: NATO Urges Global Fight against Climate Change as Trump Mulls Paris Accord

May 3, 2017 | Timothy Gardner, Reuters

Climate change poses a global security threat that all countries must fight together, a NATO general said on Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump nears…


Sudan: Reversing the Cycle of Conflict over Resources in North Darfur

May 3, 2017 | UNEP

That conflict occurs over scarce natural resources, such as water, is an accepted fact. But in a region in North Darfur, after more than a…


GAO Issues Annual Report Showing Only Slight Progress in Disclosures on Conflict Minerals

May 2, 2017 | Cydney Posner

The GAO has recently issued its third annual report on conflict minerals. The GAO is required by Dodd-Frank to report annually on the effectiveness of the SEC’s…


Manufacturers Win if Conflict Minerals Requirements Are Axed – But That’s Not Likely

May 2, 2017 | Jennifer Hermes

Manufacturers stand to win if the current administration succeeds in its efforts to all but repeal The Dodd-Frank Act, which the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)…


Chinese Delegation Blows up at Anti-Conflict Diamond Meeting to Sideline Taiwan

May 2, 2017 | Robbie Gramer

Australia kick-started an international meeting on conflict diamonds, the Kimberly Process, on Monday with an indigenous-themed welcome ceremony. It was supposed to be a nice…


LDC Women in World Climate Talks: Building a Cohort of Champions

May 2, 2017 | Janna Tenzing

The upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn will include a workshop on 10-11 May to develop elements of a 'Gender…


Myanmar: Prospectors Sued after Finding Massive Jade Boulder on Company Land

May 2, 2017 | Zarni Mann, Irrawaddy

Five prospectors who found a jade boulder weighing 8.7 tons have been charged with theft in Kachin State’s Lone Kin jade mining region. According to…


Myanmar: Villagers Continue Protests against Myitsone

May 1, 2017 | Mark Inkey, Frontier

More than five years after it was suspended by the U Thein Sein administration, villagers displaced by the controversial Myitsone Dam project are urging the…


Colombia: Indigenous People of Chocó Forced to Flee for Their Lives

Apr 30, 2017 | ABColombia

Many communities in Choco are being forced to displace due to combats between the ELN and neo-paramilitary group the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC). These…


India/Myanmar: BRO Water Tanker Attacked along Indo-Myanmar Border ; Two Local Men Killed, Many Decry

Apr 29, 2017 | Sangai Express

Two labourers engaged with the BRO/GREF were killed along the Indo-Myanmar border today when a heavily armed group reportedly waylaid the water tanker they were…


DRC: The DRC's 'Resources Curse' [Photos]

Apr 29, 2017 | Meggie Morris, Deutchse Welle

Cobalt and coltan are abundant in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But, paired with regional instability, the minerals attract militia, exploitation and violence.


The European Conflict Minerals Regulation – What Are the Key Take away Points?

Apr 28, 2017 | Paul Davies and Michael Green

The European Conflict Minerals Regulation (the Regulation) was approved by the European Council on 3 April, 2017. Publication in the Official Journal of the European…


Myanmar: With Logging Ban Lifted, Myanmar Timber Policy Falls Flat

Apr 28, 2017 | Jacob Goldberg, Coconuts

Aung San Suu Kyi’s lackluster first year in power was perforated by at least one bold policy – a yearlong ban on logging across all of Myanmar.…


Myanmar: Nansibon Jade Mine – a Battlefield for Scavengers and Companies

Apr 28, 2017 | Aung Kyaw Min, Myanmar Times

Nansibon jade mine is situated at about 30 miles from Hkamti township in upper Sagaing Region. It was demarcated as Hkamti Gem Area by the…


De-Securitising the Indus

Apr 27, 2017 | D. Suba Chandran

During recent years, water-sharing arrangements between and within countries in South Asia have been rife with multiple problems. Some of these have even led to…