There are many ways to fund terror, and one way is by consuming opium or heroin: Opium production in Afghanistan is seeing record increases for the third year straight, reports the United Nations. This is because foreign military have started leaving the country and as they do drop Afghani farmers back into the hands of the [...]
Malina Suliman’s Fighting the Taliban with Paint and Graffiti Sometimes graffiti can be seen from space. In Tunisia it graces the country’s tallest minaret. In Lebanon, they are making green graffiti for the city streets. In another inspiring way, Afghan artist Malina Suliman finds inspiration in southern Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban and one [...]
A classic and common piece of Americana holds links to a misunderstood culture. I found a bag of small yarn balls. I’d left it long ago at a friend’s house in New Jersey: my Amman-bound suitcase was fatter than the airline allowed. That bag was big, but the skeins of wool no larger than my [...]
World Banks funds new irrigation project for Afghans. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is boosting its technical support for rehabilitation of Afghanistan‘s dilapidated traditional irrigation systems, in a bid to help farmers increase crop production. The initiative also aims to improve the knowledge and skills that farmers need to run and maintain irrigation systems. [...]
Afghani designer Massoud Hassani transformed a childhood toy into a giant bamboo minesweeper powered by the wind. There are more land mines in Afghanistan than there are people, so Massoud Hassani turned a childhood toy into an extraordinary wind-powered bamboo mine sweeper that destroys and tracks them. Made out of bamboo and biodegradable plastic, the [...]
Taliban holds fire thanks to tooth-sized nut. Image via the NY Times. Some say all is fair in love and war, but for guerrilla warfare between the Taliban and Haqqani in Afghanistan, there are limits. Guns go down for pine nut season. Pine nuts are those delicious, tooth-sized nuts which are a staple in pesto. [...]
Abnormally dry weather a nightmare for Afghanis who rely on wheat crops for survival. Afghanistan is likely to face a significant food shortage in the coming months, following poor rains which have affected this season’s wheat crop. Wheat is the primary food staple for most families. “There have been problems with rainfall, so there will [...]
Killed in a hide-out in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden’s body will be transferred to America. United States President Barack Obama has confirmed that al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is dead. Bin Laden was killed in a hide-out in Pakistan, north of Islamabad, according to the White House. The Jihadi terrorist was the mastermind of [...]
Zolaykha Sherzad revives Afghan artistic culture and trains women with her Zarif Design company in Kabul. Fashion can be environmentally friendly in a few ways. Green-ifying your outfit can be as simple as obtaining it from your local second-hand store, or using eco-friendly detergents and cold water to wash it. Alternatively, it can mean that [...]
Afghanistan is not Pandora, but the tribal exploitation concept is similar Maurice argues. Now that American forces in Afghanistan are commemorating the longest period of any war that America has been involved in, including the 1965-73 Vietnam War, the recent discoveries of large and extremely valuable mineral and metal deposits may finally bring to light [...]
Afghanistan’s desolate Ghazni Province may hold the world’s largest deposits of lithium. (Image: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) Just days after the Afghan War became the longest war in US history – 104 months, surpassing the 103-month American engagement in Vietnam – the New York Times, quoting top US government officials, reported the discovery of [...]
Plant pathologist Norman Borlaug, 95, died this Saturday, raising questions about the legacy of industrial food in the Third World. In 1970, Borlaug received a Nobel Peace Prize for averting famine through bringing fertilizers, pesticides and new plant strains to countries like India, Mexico and Pakistan. But environmentalists argue that his plant engineering only delayed [...]
Who knew that for the last 16 years Istanbul has been host to the International Environment Project Olympiad? According to Todays Zaman an international jury has selected 101 projects from 41 countries to compete in the final competition of the 16th International Environmental Project Olympics in Istanbul between June 1 and 4. Tying in with [...]
(Afghan farmers get “burned out” as government there tows to US pressure. But for poppy farmers, it’s poppies or starvation. Wheat crops, or biofuel crops cannot compare in value.) Molar (not his real name) is an Afghan farmer living in the central Hazzrajat Province of Afghanistan. His 60 hectare farm along the Helmand River has [...]