International
Myanmar: Parliament Passes Gemstone Bill amid Criticism
Feb 8, 2019
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Thompson Chau, Myanmar Times
Myanmar’s parliament has passed a controversial bill governing the gemstone sector, paving the way to restart the licensing of mining companies after a two-year moratorium.…
Colomba: In Colombia, Where Gold Mining and Coca Farming Are a Toxic Mix
Feb 8, 2019
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Alfredo Molano Jimeno, WorldCrunch
The district of Timbiquí in western Colombia is practically under siege. Located in the Valle del Cauca department, it has become a magnet for gold…
DRC: DRC’s New President an ‘Unknown Factor’ as Far as Mining Is Concerned
Feb 8, 2019
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Rebecca Campbell, Mining Weekly
Félix Tshisekedi’s inauguration on January 24 marked the first peaceful transition of power in the DRC for 60 years. As far as the mining industry…
Liberia: The Potentials of Wonegizi as a Protected Area
Feb 8, 2019
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John T. Woods, Daily Observer
The Potentials of Wonegizi as a Protected Area (PA) in the development of the communities, districts and Lofa County is in the process of gazettement.…
Empowering Sudan’s women and promoting peace through equitable use of natural resources
Feb 7, 2019
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Relief Web
Many parts of Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions are low-rainfall and drought-prone agro-pastoral areas. The resulting water scarcity and poor vegetation fosters low agricultural productivity…
Iraq: UN: Clearing Iraq's Mosul From Explosives to Take Decades
Feb 7, 2019
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Lisa Schlein, Voice of America
The U.N. Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimates it could take 10 years to clear Mosul, Iraq, of landmines and decades longer to free this former…
Liberia: To Successfully Implement Land Rights Act, Stakeholders Want Unified Messaging
Feb 7, 2019
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Gbatemah Senah, Bush Chicken
Last year, Liberia scored a milestone achievement by adopting its first, ever Land Rights Act that recognizes community land ownership. At the time, international organizations…
Myanmar: One Year On, No Response on Myitsone Impact Assessment
Feb 6, 2019
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Htet Naing Zaw, Irrawaddy
The commission tasked with evaluating hydropower projects on Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River—including the Myitsone Dam in Kachin State—submitted its assessment to the President’s Office more than…
Bangladesh: Elephants Face 'Time Bomb' in Bangladesh Land Clash with Rohingya Refugees
Feb 6, 2019
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Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters
After about 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar into Bangladesh 18 months ago and set up camp, they realized they were not only at risk from monsoons…
Iraq: Iraq's Dying Rivers [Video]
Feb 6, 2019
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Omayma Naklah and Mohammad Rahahleh, Al Jazeera
For thousands of years, two famous rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, made Iraq one of the most fertile regions in the Middle East. Often called…
Land-Mine Detection Project Earns First Place at Create the Future Contest
Feb 6, 2019
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Binghamton University
Jasper Baur and William Frazer, students at Binghamton University, State University of New York, won first place in the aerospace and defense category at the…
Colombia: ‘Land Was a War Booty’: Colombia Confronts a Legacy of Mass Displacement
Feb 5, 2019
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Mariana Palau, World Politics Review
The sun was sitting low in the sky when Luis Izquierdo noticed the group of armed men walking onto his family’s farm in this town…
Afghanistan: From Snow Leopards to Soldiers: Conservation in a War-torn Land
Feb 5, 2019
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Virginia Gewin, Revelator
In 2006 Alex Dehgan, then the newly hired Afghanistan country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, was given a daunting task: to strengthen biodiversity conservation…
Colombia: The Wetlands of Rio Magdalena under Threat [Video]
Feb 5, 2019
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Deutsche Welle
In the rainy season, the Rio Magdalena in Colombia creates a vast area of wetlands. But now its flood plains are threatened by climate change,…
Myanmar: Myanmar's Opium Farmers Cling on to Lucrative Crop [Photos]
Feb 4, 2019
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Agence France-Presse
Fields of purple opium poppy stretch across the pastures and peaks of mountainous eastern Myanmar, with many farmers reluctant to give up the profitable cash…
South Sudan: South Sudan Gives China 10,000 Barrels of Crude per Day for Roads Construction
Feb 4, 2019
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Ojwe Lumara, Gurtong
The Government of South Sudan has approved allocation of 10,000 barrels of crude oil per day to China Exim Bank for the construction of roads.…
Myanmar: On Track to Meet Yangon’s Growing Water Needs
Feb 4, 2019
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Yee Ywal Myint, Myanmar Times
With the hot season not far away, water shortages are set to become a problem again in many parts of Yangon. Besides Yangon, many other…
Colombia: Colombia - The Wetlands of Rio Magdalena under Threat [Video]
Feb 4, 2019
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Deutsche Welle
In the rainy season, the Rio Magdalena in Colombia creates a vast area of wetlands. But now its flood plains are threatened by climate change,…
Afghanistan: BAZAR: Afghanistan’s EITI Membership Suspended [Video]
Feb 3, 2019
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TOLOnews
Integrity Watch Afghanistan raised concern over Afghanistan’s suspension as a member of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and said this move will have a negative…
Liberia: NGO Coalition Calls on the Gov’t to Investigate ‘Illegal logging, Consistent Noncompliance by Delta Timber Company in Sinoe’
Feb 3, 2019
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FrontPage Africa
The NGO Coalition of Liberia (NCL) is calling on the Liberian government to investigate allegations of illegal logging and consistent non-compliance to the social agreement…
Liberia: Government to Arm Rangers
Feb 1, 2019
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Emmanuel Mondaye and Jonathan Browne, New Dawn
The Management of the Forestry Development Authority is preparing to arm 45 forest rangers to protect the forest of Liberia from poachers and intruders. Deputy…
Liberia: Justice Seen as Solution for Post-War Land Conflict in Nimba
Feb 1, 2019
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Joaquin M. Sendolo, Daily Observer
Conflicts over land have long plagued Nimba County but the 14-year-civil war made the problem much worse. Now, 15 years from the end of the…
Myanmar: Let the Sunshine in
Feb 1, 2019
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Alec Wilmot, Myanmar Times
The island Pataw Pahtet, just north west of Myeik City, is a bustling industrial shipyard surrounded by warehouses, cold storage facilities and crab farms. Go…
Climate Change: UNSC Debates Climate Change Impact on Peace, Security and Development
Jan 31, 2019
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Catherine Benson Wahlén, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Speakers warned the UN Security Council (UNSC) of increasing threats to peace, security and development as a result of climate change during a debate on…
Afghanistan: Peace in Afghanistan? Maybe—but a Minerals Rush Is Already Underway
Jan 30, 2019
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Antony Lowenstein, Nation
The Afghan war is the addiction that Washington can’t quit. The longest war in US history, it’s a conflict that has generally fallen out of…
Myanmar: Karen Minority Urges 'Respect' in Myanmar Peace Park Initiative
Jan 30, 2019
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Sally Kantar, Al Jazeera
With a Myanmar government-backed peace process in deadlock, ethnic Karen political leaders and activists have declared thousands of square kilometers of land a "peace park"…
Afghanistan: 2 in 3 Afghan Men Think Women Have Too Many Rights
Jan 30, 2019
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Thomson Reuters Foundation
Afghan men strongly oppose giving women more freedom — 2 in 3 think they have too much already — and young men are even more reluctant than…
Liberia: NGO Calls for Regulator of Agriculture Concessions
Jan 29, 2019
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FrontPage Africa
Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU), a local nongovernmental organization, is calling for a separate regulator for large-scale concessions in Liberia it says will guarantee the…
Climate Change: Nations Recognize Warming as Threat to Peace and Security
Jan 28, 2019
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Jean Chemnick, E&E News
There's a growing global consensus that climate change is a threat to peace and security that deserves the same kind of attention afforded to terrorism…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Threat of Renewed Conflict as Tensions Rise over Kirkuk
Jan 28, 2019
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Middle East Monitor
Tension between the Iraqi political circles including the central government in Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraqi Turkmen are threatening renewed conflict in…