International
Papua New Guinea: Gender-Based Violence Shakes Communities in the Wake of Forest Loss
May 19, 2020
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John C. Cannon, Mongabay
KOKOPO, Papua New Guinea — Change. That’s what Monica Yongol has seen in her 54 years. In that time, the loggers and then the oil…
Colombia: Colombia’s Crumbling Drug Policy: Farmers Thwart Attempt to Resume Aerial Spraying of Coca
May 19, 2020
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Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports
The Colombian government thought it could outsmart farmers by taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to resume the aerial spraying of coca. Turns out farmers…
Cyprus: Rival Sides Join to Fight Wildfire in Breakaway North
May 19, 2020
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Associated Press
Two aircraft dispatched by Cyprus' internationally recognized government for the first time helped to fight a wildfire in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided…
Myanmar: Rakhine Squatters Ordered to Vacate Former Rohingya Quarter in Myanmar’s Sittwe Township
May 18, 2020
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Radio Free Asia
The government of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state capital has issued an order requiring ethnic Rakhine Buddhist families to vacate more than 1,250 shelters erected on…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq MP: Oil Negotiations between Baghdad and Kurdistan Are Not Over
May 18, 2020
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Middle East Monitor
The Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Bashir Al-Haddad, said that the negotiators on behalf of the federal government and the Kurdistan Region Government on…
Afghanistan: Insurgents Kill Guards of Logar Copper Mine
May 17, 2020
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Afghanistan Times
The Taliban rebels have attacked checkpoints of security forces – guarding the country's biggest copper mine in southeastern Logar province – and killed eight guards…
Israel/Palestine: Palestinians Tear Gassed in Protests against Israeli Settlements
May 16, 2020
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Al Jazeera
Israeli forces have fired tear gas at Palestinians protesting against the expansion of Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law, in northern occupied West Bank, injuring…
Afghanistan: 9 Militants Killed, 2 Soldiers Wounded in Water Dam Attack in Afghanistan
May 16, 2020
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Xinhua
At least nine militants were killed, two Afghan security force members and five militants wounded during a predawn clash in eastern Paktia province on Saturday,…
Kenya: Kenya's Pastoralists Face Hunger and Conflict as Locust Plague Continues
May 15, 2020
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Georgina Smith and Reuben Kayama, Guardian
Kenya is experiencing its worst locust invasion for 70 years. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which sounded the alarm in January on the unprecedented…
Syria: Time to Harvest the Honey: Syrian Returnees Find New Livelihoods in Beekeeping
May 15, 2020
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
The improvement of the security situation in Daraa Governorate in southwest Syria has allowed thousands of displaced families to return to their homes. With oversight from FAO’s…
Israel/Jordan: King Warns Israel of 'Massive Conflict' over Annexation
May 15, 2020
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Ammonews
German magazine Der Spiegel published on Friday an interview with His Majesty King Abdullah that covered the latest developments in the Middle East and the…
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Mining Revenue Sinks as Pandemic Hits Production and Prices
May 14, 2020
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Cooper Inveen, Reuters
Sierra Leone is weathering a dramatic crunch in mining revenue as COVID-19 restrictions hurt companies’ ability to export gold and diamonds and access essential supplies.…
Myanmar: Naga Tribes of Myanmar Face Loss of Land and Forest under New Law
May 14, 2020
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Robert Bociaga, Mongabay
The Naga tribes inhabit the hills in the northwestern corner of Myanmar and northeast India. However, their rights and culture have been recently undermined by…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan to Launch Its First Gemstone Certification Lab
May 14, 2020
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Wadsam
Silk Road Heart will be Afghanistan’s first gemstone certification lab and lapidary to be launched in June 2020 with support from USAID INVEST. According to…
Myanmar: Myanmar Arrests More Illegal Timber Traders During COVID-19
May 13, 2020
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Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times
The authorities have seized more illegally logged timber and arrested more timber traders since the COVID-19 outbreak in Myanmar in late March. During the stay-home…
Papua New Guinea: Women Play Key Role in Crafting Peaceful, Sustainable Future for Papua New Guinea
May 12, 2020
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United Nations
Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s briefing, as prepared for delivery, to the Peacebuilding Commission on the joint mission to Papua New Guinea, in…
Myanmar: Adapting Myanmar Resilience Projects in Response to COVID-19
May 12, 2020
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Cordaid
Cordaid, in partnership with Caritas Myanmar (KMSS), has been working on Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction. In 13 villages, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) committees have…
Canada: Violence Against Indigenous Women During COVID-19 Sparks Calls for MMIWG Plan
May 10, 2020
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Teresa Wright, CBC
With reports of a sharp rise in violence against Indigenous women as COVID-19 restrictions keep families stuck in their homes, concerns are being raised about…
Former SIPRI Researcher Arthur H. Westing—In Memoriam
May 8, 2020
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Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
SIPRI mourns the passing of former SIPRI expert Arthur H. Westing (United States), who died on 30 April 2020 at the age of 91.
Myanmar: Water Shortages in upper Myanmar
May 8, 2020
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Aung Phay Kyi Soe, Myanmar Times
Artesian wells donated to the village by actor Khin Hlaing currently produce 1,200 gallons per day. They initially produced 1,800 gallons, before one of the…
Afghanistan: Afghan Farmers Return to Poppy Fields amid Coronavirus Pandemic
May 7, 2020
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Mohammad Sadiq Rashtinai and Abubakar Siddique, Ganhara
In a sign that some rural Afghan farmers are attempting to protect themselves amid the looming uncertainty wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, poppy cultivation has…
Coronavirus Pandemic Is Pushing up the Price of Illegal Drugs, UN Says
May 6, 2020
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Reuters
Coronavirus-related border controls, lockdowns and flight shortages are making illegal drugs more expensive and difficult to obtain around the world, the United Nations Office on…
Gaza: Israel Billionaire Hopes to Bring Drinking Water in the War-Torn Gaza Strip
May 6, 2020
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Zaini Majeed, Republic World
In a solution to the Gaza strip’s water crisis, a Georgian-Israeli billionaire proposed that he would deliver hundreds of generators to produce the chronic water supply in…
Iraq: Iraq’s Economy Is Collapsing under the Double Blow of Sinking Oil Prices and Coronavirus Lockdown
May 5, 2020
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Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim, Washington Post
The coronavirus epidemic has pushed Iraq’s economy to the brink of catastrophe, experts say, with the outbreak aggravating the risk of public desperation and renewed…
Colombia: Coronavirus and the Colombian Countryside
May 5, 2020
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Alex Diamond, North American Congress in Latin America
Coronavirus has changed economic relations in rural Colombia, pushing campesinos to question extractive economies and offering an alternative model of production.
Iraq/Syria: ISIS Takes Advantage of Covid Crisis to Launch Attacks on Military Positions in Iraq and Oil Fields and Civilians in Syria
May 3, 2020
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Luke Andrews, MailOnline
Iraq and Syria are battling a resurgence in attacks from ISIS as the terror group takes advantage of the coronavirus pandemic. There are between 2,500…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan on the Brink of Collapse as Oil Prices Crash
May 3, 2020
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Viktor Katona, OilPrice.com
Attentive Oilprice readers must have read at least a dozen articles describing how hard Iraq has been hit by the drop in oil prices. Iraq’s…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Government Asks UN to Mediate Budget Dispute with Baghdad
May 2, 2020
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Stratfor
The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Nechirvan Barzani, asked the U.N. special representative to Iraq to help mediate its latest dispute with Baghdad…
What COVID-19 Tells Us About Gender Inequality in Latin America
May 1, 2020
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Eugene Zapata-Garesché and Luciana Cardoso
Mexico City – In the midst of social and economic unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic appears as an uninvited guest to an already crowded cocktail of…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Updates Disputed Sea Maps to Get Back at Vietnam
May 1, 2020
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Ralph Jennings, Voice of America
China has renamed scores of islets and underwater landforms in the South China Sea, a move some analysts say is intended to push back against…