International


Iraq: Explosions in Iraqi Oil Hotspot Kill Five

May 31, 2019 | Julianne Geiger, OilPrice

A series of explosions in Iraqi oil hotpot Kirkuk has killed at least five people and injured 18 more, medical sources reported to Reuters on…


Colombia: Land Grabbing, Cattle Ranching Ravage Colombian Amazon after FARC Demobilization

May 30, 2019 | Taran Volckhausen, Mongabay

In 2017, the first year following the FARC’s demobilization, deforestation in the Colombian Amazon region exploded, more than doubling from 70,074 hectares (173,000 acres) the…


Iraq/Syria: Deliberate Crop Burning Blamed on ISIS Remnants Compounds Misery in War Torn Iraq and Syria

May 30, 2019 | Associated Press

It was looking to be a good year for farmers across parts of Syria and Iraq. The wettest in generations, it brought rich, golden fields…


Sudan: Land Grabbing and Its Implications for Sudanese – Views from a Scholar

May 30, 2019 | Fredrick Mugira and Annika McGinnis, Water Journalists Africa

Investors from largely food-insecure Gulf countries are increasingly buying vast swaths of fertile land irrigated by the Nile River in Sudan to grow food crops…


'I'll Keep Fighting': Philippine Women Keep Alive Memory of Sex Slave Horrors During World War II

May 30, 2019 | Regine Cabato

MANILA —  Rosa Henson, a survivor of wartime sexual slavery at the hands of Japanese forces, went public in 1992 with her story. She had no…


Myanmar: Go Fish! But, Please, Do So Legally

May 30, 2019 | Kundhavi Kadiresan, Myanmar Times

The people of Myanmar love fish and both demand and consumption of fish is on the rise. On the one hand that’s good, because fish…


Myanmar: Illegal Jade Trade Still Thriving Despite Mining Suspension

May 29, 2019 | Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times

Myanmar jade is still being smuggled across the border to China in large quantities despite the government having suspended new licenses for two years now,…


Diamond Development Initiative Seeking Executive Director

May 29, 2019 | Rob Bates, JCK

The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), the Ottawa, Canada–based group that works on the issues surrounding artisanal diamond diggers, is looking for a new executive director to replace longtime…


Liberia: Locals Accuse Salala Rubber Company, Liberia Agricultural Company of Land Grabbing

May 29, 2019 | FrontPage Africa

Two major Liberian rubber plantation companies, including the Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC) and Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC) are under intense pressure from project-affected communities to…


Colombia: Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Nespresso Unite to Revive Coffee Farming in El Rosario, Nariño

May 29, 2019 | Vending Market Watch

The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Nespresso today announced a pilot program to help revitalize coffee production in the…


Operationalizing an Agricultural Drought Monitoring and Early Warning System in the Hindu Kush Himalaya Region

May 29, 2019 | Agrilinks

The capacity in monitoring droughts and providing early warning information to ensure agriculture and food security is equally varied among countries in the HKH region.…


Colombia: Colombia Could Lose 60% of Land Suitable for Irrigated Rice Due to Climate Change

May 29, 2019 | International Center for Tropical Agriculture

Without significant global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, Colombia will have 60 percent less land suitable for rice production by the 2050s, according to a…


South Sudan: South Sudan Struggles to Increase Oil Production after Civil War, Hurting Recovery Efforts

May 29, 2019 | Sam Mednick, Associated Press

Oil-rich South Sudan is struggling to increase production of crude several months after the end of its civil war, and the political upheaval in neighboring…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Dispute Reignites Baghdad-Erbil Tensions

May 29, 2019 | Kamal Chomani, Al-Monitor

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi is under great pressure from his government to force the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to deliver the allotted 250,000 barrels of…


Afghanistan: Why Is Afghanistan Unable to Extract Its Vast Mineral Wealth?

May 28, 2019 | Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska, Al-Jazeera

Rich in copper, lithium, talc, marble, gold, uranium and others, Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth is estimated to exceed one trillion dollars. But according to data, every…


Israel: Who Cares about Israel’s Polluted Air?

May 28, 2019 | Akiva Eldar, Al-Monitor

According to environmental groups, one is more likely to die from pollution in Israel rather than by a rocket, terror attack and road accident combined.


Climate Change: The Security Implications of Climate Change

May 28, 2019 | Daily Star

The Daily Star and Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) jointly organized a roundtable titled “The Security Implications of Climate Change” on April…


Myanmar: Golden Deer Threatened by Record Heat and an Army Land Grab

May 28, 2019 | Mratt Kyaw Thu, Frontier

The species commonly known as Golden Deer, and called thamin wah (yellow deer) in Burmese, is endemic to western Thailand. Though the deer are also…


Colombia: War, Park Rangers and the Hopes of Colombia’s Transitional Justice

May 27, 2019 | Andrés Bermúdez Liévano, Justiceinfo.net

What if Colombia’s Special Peace Jurisdiction and Truth Commission investigate the environmental damages caused by conflict, from attacks on pipelines to the murder of park…


Sudan: Sudan’s Transition Needs to Unpick the Army from the Economy

May 27, 2019 | Nicholas Norbrook, Africa Report

Sudan's army is deeply embedded in the economy. Just as the price of bread sparked the Sudan protests the political economy will remain at the…


Myanmar: Ruby Rush: Myanmar Gem Hunters Exploit Law Change

May 24, 2019 | Agence France-Presse

Burrowing deep underground, thousands of informal miners risk their lives to find gleaming red gems as a law change spurs opportunity in Myanmar's "land of…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Continues Efforts to Increase Domestic Energy Generation through Renewable Sources

May 23, 2019 | Wadsam

The Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) and the Afghan-German Cooperation's Energy Sector Improvement Program (ESIP) signed a cooperation and implementation agreement aimed at…


Chad/Mali: How Climate Change Can Fuel Wars

May 23, 2019

On the outskirts of Baga Sola, a small town in Chad not far from the border with Nigeria, is a refugee camp called Dar es Salaam.…


Liberia: ActionAid Trains 20 Journalists to Report Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

May 23, 2019 | Front Page Africa

Monrovia – In the wake of increased cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) across the country, 20 Liberian journalists have begun benefiting from a…


Climate Change: How to Think about Global Warming and War

May 23, 2019 | Economist

No conflict occurs without leaders to give orders and soldiers to pull triggers. No atrocities are committed unless human beings choose to commit them.Nonetheless, future-gazers…


CAR: Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus Calls for a New Approach to Address Hunger and Conflict

May 22, 2019 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus today called for a complete change in the ways to address the often-related issues of hunger and conflict. He made…


Uganda: Human Activity Sparking off Wildlife Conflicts

May 22, 2019 | Bashir Hangi, Observer

Conflict between people and animals is one of the main threats to the continued survival of many species in different parts of the world, and…


Persian Gulf Now Most Risky for Oil Tankers Since Last Iraq War

May 22, 2019 | Alex Longley, Bloomberg

Not since 2005 have the world’s insurers considered shipping in the Persian Gulf so dangerous for oil tankers.


Libya: Water Supplies Restored to Besieged Libyan Capital

May 21, 2019 | Ayman al-Warfalli, Reuters

Water supplies to the 2.5 million residents of Tripoli were restored two days after they were cut off by gunmen, officials said on Tuesday, allowing…


Liberia: Government Drafts Guidelines for Free, Prior Informed Consent

May 21, 2019 | FrontPage Africa

The government of Liberia and major stakeholders in the forestland sector are developing guidelines for rural communities to accept and reject concessions targeted for their…