News


Cambodia: Villagers Protest Ruling Party Senator’s ‘Land Grabs’

Aug 13, 2016 | Hul Reaksmey, Voice of America

More than 100 villagers from Kampong Speu province on Friday submitted a petition to the Ministry of Land Management calling on the government to resolve…


Iraq/Kurdistan/Islamic State: Islamic State Oil Commander Dead

Aug 12, 2016 | Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International

A commander in charge of oil for the Islamic State was killed in operations led by multilateral forces near the Syrian border, the Kurdish government…


Conflict Minerals: Many Companies Still Struggling with Conflict Mineral Reporting

Aug 12, 2016 | Kaitlyn McAvoy, Spend Matter

Nearly two-thirds of the companies that filed conflict mineral reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this year did not disclose the country of…


Myanmar: New Commission to Decide Fate of Myitsone Dam in Kachin State

Aug 12, 2016 | Nyein Nyein, The Irrawaddy

President Htin Kyaw on Friday formed a new commission to evaluate all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River prior to their going ahead. The…


Myanmar: Floods Shift to South - Flood Kills Six, Affects More Than 420,000 People Nationwide

Aug 12, 2016 | Government of Myanmar

Nationwide flooding, which began in mid-July and so far killed six people, has also affected more than 420,000 people in 98,000 households, according to the…


Vietnam’s Rocket Launchers May Prompt China to Declare Air Defense Zone

Aug 11, 2016 | Harry Kazianis

It was inevitable, but nations in the South China Sea that have overlapping claims with the People’s Republic of China are now beginning to push…


A Resourceful Solution to Rapacious Mining Projects

Aug 11, 2016 | Frontier Myanmar

Just weeks before last year’s election, Global Witness dropped a bombshell. In a report on the jade industry, Jade: Myanmar’s ‘Big State Secret’, it alleged that…


Africa: War On Climate Terror - Fleeing Disasters, Escaping Drought, Migrating

Aug 11, 2016 | Baher Kamal

While widespread violence and climate catastrophes are common to all continents and countries, there is an overwhelming consensus among experts, scientific community and international specialised…


Climate Security: War on Climate Terror (II): Fleeing Disasters, Escaping Drought, Migrating

Aug 11, 2016 | Baher Kamal, Inter Press Service

“No one can deny the terrible similarities between those running from the threat of guns and those fleeing creeping desertification, water shortages, floods and hurricanes.”…


Myanmar: The Key to Jumpstarting Myanmar’s Economy: Electricity

Aug 11, 2016 | Peter Loftus, Diplomat

It’s no secret that the National League for Democracy (NLD) faces myriad challenges in improving Myanmar’s socioeconomic situation. In fact, its biggest challenge might be…


Iraq: Iraq, Oil Companies Agree to Restart Investment, Boost Output

Aug 11, 2016 | Ahmed Rasheed and Aref Mohammed, Reuters

Iraq has reached agreement with BP, Shell and Lukoil to restart stalled investment in oil fields the firms are developing, allowing projects that were halted…


Liberia is at a Crossroads: Recognising Land Rights Can Safeguard Against Violence

Aug 10, 2016 | Jennifer Duncan and Jaron Vogelsang

The government of Liberia has an unprecedented opportunity to pass progressive land reform legislation that could positively impact millions of people, but the window of…


The Middle East: From Oil Wars to Water Wars?

Aug 10, 2016 | Mike Safadi

In 1988, Egyptian Foreign Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that the next war in the Middle East would be fought over water, not politics. What is…


Deep Trouble: Emerging Resource Competition in the Deep Sea

Aug 10, 2016 | Scott Moore & Dale Squires

It might seem strange to say that the deep sea, the vast expanse of the world’s oceans beyond the continental shelf, is at risk of…


On the Humanitarian and Environmental Frontline in Iraq

Aug 10, 2016 | Rene Nijenhuis

As the country battles the so-called Islamic State (IS) on multiple fronts, Iraq is also trying to prevent what could be one of the worst…


Myanmar: Waters, but Not Worries, Recede in Flooded Mandalay Villages

Aug 10, 2016 | Phyo Wai Kyaw and Hlaing Kyaw Soe, Myanmar Times

High waters along the Ayeyarwady River in Mandalay Region’s Amarapura and Tada-U townships have begun to recede, but victims of flooding in the area say…


Vietnam/South China Sea: Exclusive: Vietnam Moves New Rocket Launchers into Disputed South China Sea - Sources

Aug 10, 2016 | Greg Torode, Reuters

Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Sea Dispute Fallout Stokes Tensions between China and Vietnam

Aug 10, 2016 | Michael Peel, Financial Times

Tensions are rising between Vietnam and China over an escalating regional sea territory dispute that has sparked allegations of missile deployments by Hanoi and cyber…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Says Northern Oil Well Engulfed in Fire [Video]

Aug 10, 2016 | Reuters

Officials from the state-run North Oil Company say a well controlled by Kurdish peshmerga fighters in Kirkuk has exploded.


Myanmar: Floods Caused by Limitless Abuse of Resource Extraction: Deputy Minister

Aug 10, 2016 | Eleven Myanmar

Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Dr Tun Win said yesterday that the flooding and natural disaster happening in Myanmar today are the consequences…


Colombia: UN Study Charts Extent of Unregulated Gold Mining in Colombia, Links to Organized Crime

Aug 10, 2016 | UN

An estimated 60 per cent of Colombia’s alluvial gold exploitation – through mining streams or riverbeds, often dredged with heavy machinery – is not established…


Afghanistan: A Start-Up Turns to Saffron to Help Afghanistan Regrow

Aug 10, 2016 | Aili McConnon, New York Times

Bomb-blasted roads, frequent blackouts, shortages of basic equipment and an untested consumer market are hardly conditions that make for natural entrepreneurial opportunities. But three Army…


Colombia: Colombia Expands Land Restitution to War-Torn South amid Peace Efforts

Aug 9, 2016 | Anastasia Moloney, Reuters

Colombia is expanding its land restitution program into former no-go areas in the country's war-torn south aiming to return land stolen from farmers by illegal…


Myanmar: Rangers Face Violent Loggers to Save Bago’s Shrinking Forests

Aug 9, 2016 | Htet Khaung Linn, Myanmar Now

Several forest rangers and policemen were manning a sleepy checkpoint on a dirt road near Myo Kaung Village, in the foothills of the Bago Mountain…


Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi Moves to Clean up Myanmar's Murky Jade Trade

Aug 9, 2016 | Kate Hodal, Guardian

Myanmar’s new government has announced ground-breaking reforms to its $31bn (£23.7bn) jade industry in a move campaigners claim could signal “a new era of fundamental…


Iran/Kurdistan: KRG Holding Back on Signing Oil Deal with Iran

Aug 8, 2016 | Rudaw

Three months have passed since the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was expected to ink an oil agreement with Iran, but the KRG has yet to…


China/Japan/East China Sea: Japan Protests over Chinese Radar in Disputed East China Sea drilling rig

Aug 7, 2016 | Reuters

Japan has filed a protest to Beijing after the discovery that China installed radar equipment in a gas exploration platform close to disputed waters in…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Learns about Korea's Soy Industry

Aug 7, 2016 | Rachel Lee, Korea Times

Afghanistan government officials were in Korea to learn about the country's soy industry and the development process on August 7-13. Nutrition & Education International (NEI),…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iran, Afghanistan Exchange Views on Water, Security, Border Control

Aug 6, 2016 | Tehran Times

Talks on a wide range of mutual concerns, particularly water shortage, terrorism, border control, and drug smuggling were the main themes of a session between…


Friendships Rescue DRC’s Gorilla Reserve from Ruin

Aug 5, 2016 | Eugene Yiga

Launched in 2013, the Virunga Alliance invests at least 30% of the Virunga National Park revenues into community development projects such as clinics, schools and…