International


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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.…


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…


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…


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…