International


Myanmar: China Dominates Bidding for Myanmar Solar Power Plants

Sep 3, 2020 | Yuichi Nitta, Nikkei Asian Review

Myanmar is expected to announce the winners of tenders for a raft of solar power plants ahead of general elections in November and following a…


Hitting Women Hard, Pandemic Makes Gender Poverty Gap Wider - U.N.

Sep 2, 2020 | Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation

More women than men will fall into extreme poverty due to the pandemic as they bear the economic brunt of COVID-19 and face bigger job…


Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: US Cuts Aid to Ethiopia amid Nile Dam Dispute

Sep 2, 2020 | Associated Press

On the guidance of President Trump, the State Department said Wednesday that the United States was suspending some aid to Ethiopia over the “lack of…


Myanmar: Myanmar's Indigenous People Use Ancestral Customs to Fight for Land

Sep 2, 2020 | Star

From tying umbilical cords to sacred trees to paying homage to spirits before a hunt, indigenous people in south-eastern Myanmar are tapping ancestral customs to…


Afghanistan: Greenhouses — A Stable Source of Income for Farmers during COVID-19

Sep 2, 2020 | UN Office on Drugs and Crime

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negative implications on economic activities across the country, the greenhouses are still operating, producing fresh vegetables and serve as…


Generations of Progress for Women and Girls Could be Lost to COVID Pandemic, UN Chief Warns

Aug 31, 2020 | UN News

Highlighting the disproportionate and devastating socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on women and girls globally, The UN chief António Guterres called on Monday for a major…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Threatens Fines for Illegal Energy Exploration in Its Waters

Aug 31, 2020 | Drake Long, Benar News

Vietnam has issued a new decree against illegal energy exploration in its territory on land and sea, threatening violators with fines and potentially seizing their…


Colombia: Growing Demand for Zero-Deforestation Cacao Might Not Help Colombian Forests

Aug 28, 2020 | International Center for Tropical Agriculture

When Brazil refused soy grown on deforested land in the Amazon, the movement spread worldwide. Brazil's Soy Moratorium in 2006 became the first zero-deforestation agreement.…


Liberia: More Than 9,000 Burkinabes Illegally Squatting in Grand Gedeh

Aug 28, 2020 | J. Burgess Carter, Observer

Senator Marshall A. Dennis has confirmed that over nine thousand (9,000) Burkinabés are illegally occupying a portion of land belonging to citizens of Grand Gedeh…


Lebanon: UN Women Provides Emergency Relief for Women and Girls in Beirut

Aug 27, 2020 | Sophie Partidge-Hicks, Global Citizen

After the devastating explosion in Beirut on Aug. 4, nonprofits have been dealing with the humanitarian consequences, including the growing crisis now affecting women and girls, especially…


Brazil: Amazon ‘Women Warriors’ Show Gender Equality, Forest Conservation Go Hand in Hand

Aug 27, 2020 | Rosamaria Loures and Sarah Sax, Inter Press Service

On an early December morning last year in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, half a dozen members of the Indigenous Guajajara people packed their bags…


DRC: DRC Announces Extension on Export Ban Moratorium for Key Minerals

Aug 27, 2020 | Thomas Hedley, Africa Oil & Power

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has extended a new moratorium on the export ban of cobalt, tin, tungsten and tantalum concentrates. This waiver comes…


Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Is a Major Hydroelectric Project — and Sparking a Conflict Over Water

Aug 27, 2020 | Mark Leon Goldberg, UN

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, or as it’s better known The GERD, is a major hydroelectric project that is being built on the Blue Nile…


South Sudan: South Sudan Residents Protest Oil Facilities

Aug 27, 2020 | David Mono Danga, Voice of America

Residents around South Sudan’s Palouch and Melut oil fields in Upper Nile state demonstrated Wednesday for a third consecutive day against environmental pollution caused by…


Myanmar: Myanmar Forgoes Revenue from Gem Emporiums

Aug 27, 2020 | Aung Loon, Myanmar Times

The Myanmar government has potentially lost billions in revenue from having to suspend this year's gems emporiums due to the outbreak of COVID-19, according to…


Niger: Climate Resilient Agriculture Grants in Niger Empower Women-Managed Enterprises

Aug 26, 2020 | Market Screener

In Niger, the agricultural sector employs 8 out of 10 people. It is estimated that if the gender gap was closed in agricultural productivity, it…


Afghanistan: Minerals Have become Integral to Conflict in Afghanistan: UNDP

Aug 26, 2020 | Ariana News

UNDP Afghanistan has found that decades of mining without a clear vision has done little to reduce poverty but has instead helped insurgent groups fund…


Afghanistan: Ex-Minister, 16 Employees Referred to AGO over Corruption Charges

Aug 26, 2020 | Pajhwok Afghan News

At least 17 employees of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP), including former acting minister Nargis Nehan, have been referred to the Attorney General…


Myanmar: Over 550 Tons of Illegal Timbers Seized across Myanmar in a Week

Aug 26, 2020 | Xinhua

Myanmar authorities confiscated over 550 tons of illegal timbers across Myanmar in a week, according to a release from the Forest Department under the Ministry…


Liberia: EPA Trains Over 40 Female Journalists to Report Environmental Issues

Aug 26, 2020 | Alline Dunbar, FrontPage Africa

The Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia (EPA), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) last weekend concluded a two-day training for over 40…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Weighs World Court Arbitration against China if Maritime Diplomacy Fails

Aug 26, 2020 | Ralph Jennings, Voice of America

Vietnam is exploring the launch of an international arbitration case against China over a series of mishaps in a disputed sea if diplomacy fails, analysts…


South Sudan: South Sudan Set to Take over China-Operated Oilfields by 2027

Aug 26, 2020 | Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com

South Sudan’s state-controlled Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet) has started preparations to take over the management of some oilfields in the country by 2027, when it…


Ethiopia: Women in Ethiopia Face Challenges During COVID-19 Pandemic

Aug 24, 2020 | Crux

Women in Ethiopia often suffer from “traditional gender roles” where they are expected to defer to men in society. “During gatherings where men and women…


Kenya: Kenya – Indigenous Women Overcome Discrimination to Lead Community COVID-19 Responses

Aug 24, 2020 | Climate & Development Knowledge Network

In Kenya, indigenous women are tapping into local resources, and undertaking individual and collective initiatives to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. Rose Wamalwa reports. This is…


Liberia: Charcoal Burners to Plant Trees for Sustainability

Aug 24, 2020 | Global News Network

As part of efforts in sustainably managing the forest, members of the Suehn/Mecca District Charcoal Producers Association in Suehn/Mecca District, Bomi County have taken the…


Afghanistan: Taliban Taxes Illegal Gold Mines in Northeastern Afghanistan

Aug 24, 2020 | Nimatullah Ahmadi and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara

Residents and officials in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Badakhshan say the Taliban is raking in considerable revenues by taxing illegal gold mining in the remote…


DRC: Mining Major Backs Fair Cobalt Alliance Launched in the DRC

Aug 24, 2020 | Mining Review Africa

As the demand for the minerals in battery production, including cobalt, is set to increase to power the transition to a greener economy, the Fair…


Syria: Farmland on Fire in Northeast Syria

Aug 24, 2020 | PAX

A substantial number of the fires are the result of ongoing tension between Turkish-backed Syrian militias and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria,…


Afghanistan: Fortescue Opens Talks with Afghanistan on Nation’s Mining Riches

Aug 20, 2020 | Eltaf Najafizada and David Stringer, Bloomberg

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. has held talks with Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani on potential mining sector opportunities in the nation, which has struggled to accelerate…


Liberia: Fessibu First to Complete Customary Land Process, as More Communities Line up

Aug 20, 2020 | Varney Kamara, FrontPage Africa

The town in the Gizzimah clan Zorzor District of Lofa County made history in June when it was certificated by the Liberian government after becoming…