News
Land Grabbing: Banks and Pension Funds Continue to Bankroll Deforestation and Land Grabs
Apr 30, 2015
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Andrew Simms, The Guardian
Whether its food you’re putting in your mouth, or products you’re putting on your body, the probability is that half of them contain palm oil.…
Iraq: IS Expands in Iraq's Largest Oil Refinery
Apr 30, 2015
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Xinhua News Agency
The Islamic State (IS) militant group on Thursday captured more ground in the vast oil refinery of Baiji in Iraq's Salahudin province, while battles with…
Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Buys Submarine-Launched Land Attack Missiles to Deter China
Apr 30, 2015
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Greg Torode, Reuters
Vietnam is arming its expanding submarine fleet with land attack missiles that could be capable of reaching Chinese coastal cities, a choice of weapon likely…
Myanmar: Blood Teak: How Myanmar's Natural Resources Fuel Ethnic Conflicts
Apr 30, 2015
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Jay Benson, The Diplomat
On March 30, the government of Myanmar and an umbrella group of 16 ethnic minority groups agreed to a draft agreement for a “nationwide ceasefire”…
Liberia: Liberia's Postwar Constitution Review - a Tale of Mistrust and Uncertainty
Apr 30, 2015
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Richard Akum and Mainlehwon Vonhm, African Arguments
When under review, a constitution (the supreme law of the land) reveals issues of collective angst within the land. In Liberia, the process to review…
The Limits of the “Nile Agreement”
Apr 29, 2015
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Mwangi S. Kimenyi and John Mukum Mbaku
On Monday, March 23, 2015, leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan met in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to sign an agreement that is expected to resolve various…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish Regional Gov’t to Raise Oil Exports to Turkey
Apr 29, 2015
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Andalou Agency
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq will increase its oil exports to Turkey and deliver up to 625,000 barrels per day starting from…
China/Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Fires Back at South China Sea Claimants with Reclamation Accusations
Apr 29, 2015
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Reuters
After facing weeks of criticism about its reclamation work on disputed islands in the South China Sea, China on Wednesday turned the tables on Vietnam,…
Call for Abstracts: Reframing the Arctic: Cooperation, Not Conflict Workshop
Apr 28, 2015
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Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security
Too much of the popular narrative, in particular media framing, of polar politics is driven by the notion of inevitable conflict. The “Arctic cold war”…
Wicked Problems, Messy Analysis, Clumsy Solutions?
Apr 28, 2015
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Naho Mirumachi
Increased climate uncertainty, changing lifestyles and disparities in socio-economic development make finding solutions to water scarcity and water-related hazards significant. Today, there are both persistent…
Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire: Tribunal Tells Ghana to Suspend Oil Drilling
Apr 28, 2015
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Cholo Brooks, Global News Network
An international tribunal on Saturday ordered Ghana not to carry out any new oil drilling activities in waters disputed with Ivory Coast, pending a final…
Iraq: ISIS Executes Oil Workers in Mosul
Apr 28, 2015
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Middle East Monitor
ISIS fighters have executed ten oil workers in the city of Mosul, a Kurdish information official reported on Monday. According to Said Momzini, the ten…
Colombia: A Lesson in Booms and Busts for Latin America’s Newest Oil Power
Apr 28, 2015
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Andrea Jaramillo and Andrew Willis, Bloomberg
In a remote corner of Bogota’s sprawling airport complex, just a few miles before the city gives way to wind-swept savanna, a gleaming-white hangar stands…
Colombia: Officials Urge End to Herbicide’s Use on Coca
Apr 28, 2015
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William Neuman, New York Times
Colombia’s Health Ministry has recommended halting the spraying of an herbicide widely used in an American-funded campaign to eradicate crops of coca, the plant used…
War, Famine, and Drought – the Unholy Trinity Changing Our World
Apr 27, 2015
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Boyd Tonkin
Earlier this week, the outgoing Deputy Prime Minister at last backtracked on his government’s part in the withdrawal last year of EU search-and-rescue operations for…
Building Climate Resilience in Conflict-Affected States: A Neglected Agenda
Apr 27, 2015
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Grace Keyes
Climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts face many obstacles in fragile and conflict-affected societies. Instead of writing off these situations, however, International Alert’s Janani Vivekananda,…
Africa: African Diamond Producers Refuse to Support Beneficiation With Mining Revenue
Apr 27, 2015
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Ronen Shnidman, Rapaport
Africa’s major diamond producing nations expressed unwillingness to compromise government revenue from rough diamond sales to support local manufacturers in the current weak market. "We…
Mali: Drought, Expanding Deserts and 'Food for Jihad' Drive Mali's Conflict
Apr 27, 2015
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Chris Arsenault, Reuters
Life has never been easy in Moussa Majga's corner of northern Mali, a desert region of leafless trees, mud huts and roaming gunmen. For years,…
Liberia: 'Pay Our Land Rental Fees'
Apr 27, 2015
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The NEWS
The National Union of Community Forest Development Committees (NUCFDC) is calling on the Liberian Government to disburse its share of the Land Rental Fees. The…
Nepal: Nepal Villages Cut Off by Earthquake Wait for Aid as Death Toll Passes 4,000
Apr 27, 2015
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Thomas Fuller and Ellen Barry, New York Times
Five hours by car from Katmandu, then by foot for several miles past the spot where the road is blocked by boulders and mud, people…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Falling Prices, Rising Threats Cool Interest in Kurdish Oil
Apr 26, 2015
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Bram Janssen and Paul Schemm, Associated Press
The hall for the Irbil Oil and Gas Exhibition this week was crowded with company displays, executives and investors. But conspicuously absent were international oil…
South Sudan: Sudd Institute Reports Cover-Up of South Sudan Oil Spills
Apr 26, 2015
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Radio Tamazuj
An independent South Sudanese research organization has found that none of the environmental transparency provisions of the Petroleum Act 2012 are being enforced, in particular…
South Sudan: South Sudan Capital Hit by Drinking Water Shortages
Apr 26, 2015
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Sudan Tribune
Residents in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, say there is no clean drinking water in the city which serves as the seat of the government,…
Palestine: How Israel’s War Has Left Gaza Dry
Apr 25, 2015
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Kate Shuttleworth, The National
A tanker pulls up on a dirt road outside a two-level house where five families live. Three men jump out and unwind a plastic hose…
Violence and Conflict over Minerals Still Plague Eastern Congo
Apr 23, 2015
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Sarah Morrison
For Darlène Ndango, fear builds at night. Just over two weeks ago, she was woken up in her bed by the sound of gunshots ripping…
Iraq: Low Oil Prices Limit Iraq’s Output Growth
Apr 23, 2015
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Andy Tully, OilPrice.com
Iraq, still reeling from the US invasion and now fighting ISIS, has been trying to increase its oil output, but two energy giants, Britain’s BP…
Liberia: A Closer Look at Alternative Land Dispute Resolution (ALDR) Systems
Apr 23, 2015
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Liberian Observer
As inscribed in the Act establishing the Land Commission, one of the duties and functions is to promote "prompt and fair resolution of conflicts over…
Call for Abstracts: Rethinking Peace, Security and Development in Contemporary Africa
Apr 22, 2015
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University of Bradford
Dubbed as the year of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance, 2013 saw many African countries celebrate their 50th anniversary of independence. Looking at its past, present…
The Ukraine Conflict’s Legacy of Environmental Damage and Pollutants
Apr 22, 2015
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Nickolai Denisov, Otto Simonett, Doug Weir and Dmytro Averin
One year after violent conflict began, information is now emerging on the specific environmental impact of war in Ukraine’s highly industrialised Donbas region. Although obtaining…
Central African Republic: Consultant
Apr 22, 2015
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Welthungerhilife
Welthungerhilfe (www.welthungerhilfe.de) is one of the largest and most respected private organisations in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian aid in Germany. It carries…