News

India/Pakistan: Water War to Water Talks

Mar 20, 2017 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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…

Mattis Latest in Succession of Senior Military Leaders to Warn About Climate Change

Mar 17, 2017 | Schuyler Null

This week, newly minted Secretary of Defense James Mattis joined a long list of senior U.S. military leaders who have warned about the national security threats of…

How Minerals Fuel Conflicts in Africa

Mar 17, 2017 | Nicolas Berman, Mathieu Couttenier, Dominic Rohner, and Mathias Thoenig

Fighting groups have long understood how important it is to secure a stable stream of financial resources in order to sustain the fighting effort over…

Julia McQuaid on the Complex Link Between Water and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa

Mar 17, 2017 | Benjamin Dills

Does global water stress matter for U.S. national security, and if so, how? That’s a major focus of the next CNA Military Advisory Board report, says Julia…

Myanmar: Banana Plantation Breaches Protected Forests

Mar 17, 2017 | 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 | 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 | 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…

Water and War

Mar 16, 2017 | Mark Zeitoun

Water is a human right, but too often one of the causes and tools of today’s wars. If we confront the politics behind the scenes…

In the Face of Colombia’s Coca Boom, Coffee and Cocoa Farming Offer a Remedy

Mar 16, 2017 | Huffington Post

Colombia, still in a delicate phase of its history as it struggles to revive from five decades of war, is seeing a dramatic rise in…

Myanmar: Dam Projects Must Be Suspended until Peace Achieved, Say Environmental Orgs

Mar 16, 2017 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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…

Expand the Indus Waters Treaty to Make Peace

Mar 15, 2017 | Ashok Swain

Water scarcity is a serious and growing security challenge for South Asian countries. The twin pressures of population growth and climate change are further intensifying…

Conflict Minerals Rule Legal Challenge: Done and Done

Mar 15, 2017 | Dynda Thomas

“Hear ye, Hear ye.”  The parties to the legal challenge of the SECs conflict minerals rule have agreed that no further court proceedings are necessary…

Myanmar: Battling for Blood Jade

Mar 15, 2017 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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…