News


Cyprus/Turkey: Cyprus Peace Talks 'Positive and Productive'

May 16, 2015 | Deutsche Welle

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Mustafa Akinci, met in Nicosia in search of a breakthrough to the…


Conflict in Yemen: Lessons for Citizen Environmental Monitoring

May 15, 2015 | Andy Garrity

The conflict in Yemen is likely to have produced a range of TRW threats for the civilian population but in common with other conflicts, data…


Colombia Halts Aerial Coca Eradication after WHO Glyphosate Cancer Ruling

May 15, 2015 | Doug Weir

As predicted on this blog in March, the classification of the commonly used herbicide Glyphosate as a Group 2A carcinogen by the WHO’s International Agency for Cancer…


Liberia: Moratorium on Logging Activities is Undermining Liberia’s Economy says Senate Pro-Tempore

May 15, 2015 | Cholo Brooks, Global News Network

The President Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate Armah Zolu Jallah says Liberia needs to identify its priorities in terms of adopting policies that will benefit…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq’s Oil Minister Leaves Erbil with No Progress in Oil & Budget Talks

May 15, 2015 | Rudaw

Iraq’s Oil Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi returned to Baghdad Friday evening after two days of talks with Kurdish officials over oil and budget disputes with…


Iraq: The Islamic State Threatens to Capture Massive Iraqi Oil Refinery

May 15, 2015 | Hugh Naylor, Washington Post

Six months after the government triumphantly announced that Islamic State militants had retreated from Iraq’s largest refinery, the extremist group is again threatening to overrun…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Images Reveal Vietnam's Expansion in the South China Sea

May 15, 2015 | Gabriel Domínguez, Deutsche Welle

Surveillance imagery recently obtained by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) shows that in recent years Vietnam has undertaken significant construction in the…


Armed Conflict and the Environment Publishing Opportunity

May 14, 2015 | ABC-CLIO

Authors with environment and peacebuilding background needed to write entries for Armed Conflict and the Environment: A Global Perspective.  This reference guide is a collection of case…


Iraq: 9th Circuit Court Overturns $85M Award for Oregon Soldiers

May 14, 2015 | Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday threw out a landmark verdict that a dozen Oregon Army National Guardsmen won against a defense contractor…


DRC: India Eyes Mineral Exploration, Procurement Deals from Congo

May 14, 2015 | Business Standard

India has expressed keen interest in having a "mutually beneficial" relationship with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in exploration as well as procurement of various…


Iraq: 12 Years Later, a Mystery of Chemical Exposure in Iraq Clears Slightly

May 14, 2015 | C.J. Chivers, New York Times

The toxic vapors acted quickly against the Second Platoon of the 811th Ordnance Company, whose soldiers were moving abandoned barrels out of an Iraqi Republican…


DRC: Conflict Minerals Rule: A View of Ongoing Compliance

May 14, 2015 | Deloitte, Wall Street Journal

As the SEC’s Conflict Minerals Rule approaches its second filing deadline in June, many registrants continue to face the challenge of gaining adequate visibility into…


South Sudan: UN Ramps Up Airlifts to Reach Conflict-Hit Farmers Ahead of Planting Season

May 14, 2015 | United Nations

As the main planting season begins in South Sudan, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced today that it is accelerating its efforts…


Iraq: Iraqi Refinery May Be Destroyed in Battle to Save it

May 13, 2015 | Reuters

Islamic State militants have dug trenches around natural gas and hydrogen tanks at Iraq's largest refinery, raising the stakes in a battle where the price…


Iraq: Baghdad-Erbil Relations Grow Sour

May 13, 2015 | Anadolu Agency

Relations between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government in Erbil are growing sour as Erbil awaits full payment for oil, according to…


Sierra Leone: Project Manager (Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries)

May 12, 2015 | WorldFish

Leading a project team, the incumbent will be expected to support the planning, implementation and monitoring and review of an aquaculture and inland fisheries research…


Afghanistan: Ceramics Consultant

May 12, 2015 | Turquoise Mountain Foundation

In order to raise Afghan ceramics to export quality, and generate sustainable jobs in the Afghan ceramics sector, it is necessary to have an international…


Rwanda: Project Manager

May 12, 2015 | Welthungerhilfe

The Project Manager’s key responsibilities include day to day coordination & management of a marshland development project, field office coordination, project team coordination, to ensure…


Colombia: Senior Political Adviser of Food Systems

May 12, 2015 | Oxfam Colombia

Objetivo del puesto: Brindar entrega y liderazgo estratégico, en coordinación con las aliados/socios nacionales e internacionales, que influyen en las estrategias de incidencia para apoyar…


Iraq: How Important is the Battle for Iraq's Baiji Oil Refinery?

May 12, 2015 | Jill S Russell, BBC

The struggle between Iraqi government forces and Shia militia against Islamic State (IS) for control of the country's largest oil refinery, Baiji, is at yet…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: 1 Year Later: Reflections on China's Oil Rig 'Sovereignty-Making' in the South China Sea

May 12, 2015 | Ankit Panda, The Diplomat

One year ago, China’s state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) moved an exploratory oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HD-981), worth an estimated $1 billion,…


DRC: Child Labour Won't Stop with Conflict-Free Labels and Voluntary Codes

May 12, 2015 | Josephine Moulds, The Guardian

A fight is brewing in Europe over new rules for companies to report on so-called “conflict minerals”, which are commonly found in mobile phones, laptops,…


Liberia: Liberia's Remaining Forest Threatened, If...

May 12, 2015 | Wellington G. Patrick, Liberia News Agency

The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ms Anyaa Vohiri, predicts that though Liberia holds a large chunk of sub-Saharan forest, it remains…


EnPAx Icon Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform Launches New Infographics Section, Seeks Suggestions

May 11, 2015 | ELI and UNEP

The Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform has expanded its Library to include infographics on environmental peacebuilding. This section showcases infographics made in collaboration with students from…


Timor-Leste: Drop in Oil Production Reduces Timor-Leste’s Revenue

May 11, 2015 | Macauhub

A drop in oil and natural gas production has been the main factor behind a reduction of oil revenues to Timor-Leste (East Timor), which account…


Islamic State: How IS Uses Water as a Weapon of War

May 11, 2015 | Walaa Hussein, Al-Monitor

The Middle East is facing a water crisis. As the region experiences conflicts over water and faces the continuous risk of war breaking out, experts on water predict that the Islamic…


Sudan: Contract for Khartoum Oil Pipeline Signed

May 11, 2015 | Radio Dabanga

The first Sudanese contract to build pipelines for petroleum between Khartoum and Wad Madani, the capital of El Gezira state, was signed on Sunday. The…


Bangladesh/India: Enclaves in Bangladesh: Reports of Scuffles over Land Grabbing

May 10, 2015 | The Indian Express

Days after Parliament ratified the land swap agreement with Bangladesh, there are reports of “law and order” problem over the alleged land grabbing in the…


DRC: Dodd-Frank’s Misadventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo

May 10, 2015 | Tom Burgis, Politico

Looking out on the banana plants and cassava shrubs of Central Africa, it was odd to imagine the tentacles of a bank reform bill in…


Iraq: Economist: Ex-PM Maliki Lost Iraq $500bn in Oil

May 9, 2015 | Rudaw

Economist Adnan Janabi, the former head of the Iraqi parliament's oil and gas committee, has criticized Baghdad's oil policies and laid the blame on ex-prime…