International


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.


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…


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…


Food Security: No Food Security without Peace, Says FAO chief

May 21, 2019 | IANS

Hunger and conflict are interlinked and sustaining impoverished rural communities can help break the cycle, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation chief Jose Graziano da…


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…


Afghanistan: Taliban Ramp up Mining in Southern Afghan Region

May 20, 2019 | Mohammad Ilyas Dayee and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara

Lawmakers and locals in a southern Afghan province say the illegal mining of gold and other precious minerals has dramatically increased in Taliban-controlled regions close…


Libya: UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Strongly Condemns the Blockage of the Great Man-Made River, Cutting off Water Supply for Hundreds of Thousands of Libyans

May 20, 2019 | UN Support Mission in Libya

On 19 May 2019, during late night hours, a water control station in the Jabal al-Hasawna – southwestern Libya, was deliberately shut down cutting off…


Myanmar: Five from China Charged over Illegal Banana Plantation in Myanmar Protected Forest

May 20, 2019 | Radio Free Asia

The forestry department of northern Myanmar’s Kachin state has filed charges against five Chinese nationals and their company manager for allegedly expanding a banana plantation…


Liberia: Liberia Women Forum Wants Stakeholders Tune Down Rhetoric & Maintain Peace

May 19, 2019 | Alaskai Moore Johnson

Monrovia – Liberia Women Forum (LWF), a woman’s advocacy group, is appealing to the main stakeholders on the Liberian political landscape to tune down the…


For Many Women in Colombia, Peace Never Arrived

May 19, 2019 | Kimberley Brown, Al Jazeera

More than 340 human rights defenders in Colombia were killed from the beginning of 2016 to mid-August 2018 - mostly by paramilitaries trying to squash…


Somalia: UN Warns of Humanitarian Crisis in Drought-Stricken Somalia

May 18, 2019 | Africa News

Drought has left nearly two million Somalis in desperate need of food, a humanitarian agency warned Monday, as poor rainfall pushes communities to the brink…


Sudan/South Sudan: South Sudan Concerned Sudan Turmoil Could Hurt Oil Exports

May 17, 2019 | Paul Burkhardt, Bloomberg

South Sudan, recovering from a civil war in which 400,000 people died and and a quarter of the population was displaced, is concerned that an…


Sudan: Community-Led Rainfall Monitoring in Sudan’s Darfur

May 16, 2019 | UN Environment

Darfur, in Sudan, as most of arid and semi-arid Africa, is marked by a good deal of climatic variability. Climate change has also led to…


Climate Change: EU Security Community Considers Climate Security

May 16, 2019 | Planetary Security Initiative

Climate-related security issues were prominently discussed in Brussels. Luxembourg Minister of Defense François Bausch addressed the topic in a meeting with his counterparts in the…


Bomb-Laden Drones Threaten Arabian Oil Fields, Nuclear Plant

May 16, 2019 | Energy & Environment News

A Yemen rebel drone strike this week on a critical Saudi oil pipeline shows that the otherwise-peaceful sandy reaches of the Arabian Peninsula now are…


Afghanistan: A Connecticut Soldier Exposed to Smoke from 'Burn Pits’ in Afghanistan Now Fights for Benefits and Battles Terminal Brain Cancer

May 15, 2019 | Peggy McCarthy, Hartford Courant

Every day for 10 months in 2012, Peter Antioho walked through dense, black smoke from an open burn pit on his Army base in Afghanistan.…


Colombia: No Peace without a Piece of the Land

May 15, 2019 | Augusta Dwyer, Global Landscapes Forum

After more than half a century of conflict, the Colombian government signed a peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas in 2016, taking a massive step…


Somalia: Online Course Inspires Former Envoy to Counter Environmental Degradation in Somalia

May 15, 2019 | UN Environment

An interview with Abshir H Abshir is Executive Director, Centre for the Rule of Law and Development. Based in Garowe, the capital of Somalia’s semi-autonomous…


Iraq: The Exodus Begins as Foreign Oil Companies Exit Iraq on Security Concerns

May 15, 2019 | Julianne Geiger, OilPrice

ExxonMobil is starting to evacuate its engineers working on Iraq’s West Qurna 1 field due to security concerns, according to Al Arabiya. Earlier in the…


Afghanistan: Casualty of War: Deforestation and Desertification in Afghanistan

May 15, 2019 | Austin Bodetti, New Arab

While gridlock is keeping the Taliban and the United States from reaching a political settlement to the war in Afghanistan, a lacklustre peace process represents just…


Sudan/South Sudan/Abyei: Security Council Extends Mandate of United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei until November, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2469 (2019)

May 14, 2019 | UN

The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until 15 November today, deciding also to reduce its authorized troop…


Syria: Syrian Conflict Leaves 93 Percent of Population in Poverty

May 14, 2019 | Ibrahim Hamidi, Asharq Al-Awsat

The conflict in Syria has led to a food safety disaster in the country, with 93 percent of the population living in poverty. A number…


Iraq: Iraq Reveals Big Corruption File in Basra Oil Contracts Involving Two Int. Companies

May 13, 2019 | Sangar Ali, Kurdistan 24

Iraq’s Commission of Integrity on Monday revealed corruption marred contracts between the state-run Basra Oil Company and two international firms over the purchase of loading arms. The…


Myanmar: Myanmar Loses about 150,000 Acres of Forest Annually: Survey

May 13, 2019 | Zeya Nyein, Eleven

Forest erosion rate in Myanmar is reached to about 150,000 acres annually within five-year time and Myanmar stood third place in the list of countries…


South Sudan: Canada's Feminist Policy a Perfect Fit for South Sudan, Says UN Refugee Official

May 13, 2019 | Mike Blanchfield

OTTAWA — Canada could find a win for its feminist foreign policy in the spiralling famine and refugee crisis gripping South Sudan and neighbouring African…


Iraq: The Battle for Control over Iraq’s Oil

May 13, 2019 | Simon Watkins, OilPrice

Iraq regards the U.S.’s refusal to extend waivers for countries importing oil from Iran as a tacit endorsement for it to pump its own oil…


Myanmar: Plan under Way to Increase Forest Coverage Areas

May 11, 2019 | Eleven

The Forest Department is working to designate 30 per cent of the country’s total area as reserved forests and protected public forests and 10 per…


Liberia: FDA Decries Forest Depletion, Degradation

May 10, 2019 | David S. Menjor, Observer

The managing director of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), C. Mike Doryen has decried the “degradation of the forests” across the country. Doryen raised the…


Middle East: Could Desalination Help Prevent Water Wars in the Middle East? [Video]

May 10, 2019 | Yolande Knell, BBC

In the Middle East it’s long been feared that increasing competition over shared natural supplies of fresh water – because of growing populations and climate…


Myanmar: Crowdfunding Brings Life-Saving Water to Myanmar's Deer

May 10, 2019 | Agence France-Presse

A herd of endangered deer wait under the shade of one of the sparse trees in this parched central Myanmar landscape, watching as rangers dispatch…