International


Afghanistan: Talc Terror Trail

Aug 7, 2018 | Chris Fitch, Geographical

Could baby power be funding terrorism? Potentially yes, according to investigative campaigning organisation Global Witness, which recently probed the talc mining industry in Afghanistan and…


Helping Farmers Helps Peace

Aug 7, 2018 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

Civil wars and conflicts have increased markedly in the past decade, leading to the recent reverse of a steady trend towards reducing hunger. In response…


Iran: US Sanctions on Iran Drive Oil Prices Higher

Aug 7, 2018 | Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International

Sanctions on Iran and additional support from signs of declining oil inventories in the United States pushed the price of oil higher early Tuesday. Iranian…


Sudan/South Sudan: Giving Peace Another Chance

Aug 7, 2018 | Agence France-Presse

Their rivalry has fueled appalling bloodshed in South Sudan, yet now for a third time Salva Kiir and Riek Machar will try to share power…


Colombia: Under New President, Colombia's Internal Refugees Still Can't Go Home

Aug 7, 2018 | Heather Brady, National Geographic

The inauguration of Colombia’s new president, Ivan Duque, is cause for celebration among those who support the country's conservative politicians and for concern among others—including…


Colombia: Now Is the Time to Act

Aug 7, 2018 | Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International

For more than sixty years Colombia’s history has been marked by armed conflict rooted in territories where a state presence seems non-existent. In November 2016,…


Protecting Livelihoods and Safeguarding Food Security in Conflict Contexts

Aug 7, 2018 | José Graziano da Silva, Food and Agiculture Organization of the UN

Since 2000, almost half of all civil conflicts around the world have taken place in Africa, where land issues have played a significant role in…


A Mother's Impossible Choice: Risk Rape to Feed Your Family, or Starve

Aug 6, 2018 | Denise Hruby

On a dirt path dotted with bright-red bougainvillea, women in ankle-length dresses gather in groups of five or more before venturing into the forest. Right…


Central Asia: Central Asian Countries Discuss Transboundary Water Management Issues

Aug 6, 2018 | Aidana Yergaliyeva, The Astana Times

Central Asian and neighbouring countries discussed transboundary water management, maintenance and the possibilities for strengthening sustainable development during a July 12-13 regional meeting in Almaty. Experts…


Myanmar: Myanmar's Indigenous People Fight 'Fortress' Conservation

Aug 6, 2018 | Rina Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Saw Ma Bu fears his way of life is under threat as the government declares swathes of forest in indigenous Karen homelands as protected areas.…


Pakistan: Villagers 'Living between Life and Death' as Pakistan's Glaciers Melt

Aug 6, 2018 | Peer Muhammad, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Pakistan has more glaciers than any other country outside the polar region – more than 7,200 in the Karakoram, Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges, according…


Bangladesh: Malaysian-Made Water Treatment System Brings Relief to Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Aug 6, 2018 | Syed Azwan Syed Ali, Bernama

At least 30,000 Rohingyas currently staying at the refugee camp in Ukhia near here have been receiving treated water supply to keep them away from diseases, thanks…


Conflict Minerals: The “Blood” Diamonds

Aug 6, 2018 | Mariela Naydenova, LeapRate

After being applied in more than 20 different industries around the globe, it is no surprise that blockchain is now being used in the diamond…


South Sudan: A Mother's Impossible Choice: Risk Rape to Feed Your Family, or Starve

Aug 6, 2018 | Denise Hruby, CNN

Based on interviews, the UN estimates that 70% of women living in camps have been raped. Since the beginning of the conflict in 2013, South…


Tanzania: Tanzania's Indigenous Communities Racing to Secure Land Eyed by Investors

Aug 5, 2018 | Kizito Makoye, In Depth News

Tanzania has attracted huge interest as a destination for large-scale agricultural investment due to sufficient land and cheap labour. While farmers use swathes of land…


Myanmar: Danish Company Seeks Long-Term Role in Myanmar’s Water Security

Aug 4, 2018 | Evan Erickson, Mizzima

While issues like aquifer depletion, groundwater contamination, overpopulation, extreme flooding and droughts grab headlines in coverage of a global water crisis that has been long…


Europe: Could Removing Europe's Dams Revive Its Rivers?

Aug 4, 2018 | Leonard Proske, Deutsche Welle

Sixty percent of Europe's surface waters are in poor environmental condition, according to the latest water quality report for the continent from the European Environment Agency. The…


Myanmar/Bangladesh: Stuck In-between a “Corridor and a Camp”: How Myanmar's Persecution of Rohingya Refugees Has Also Put Elephants and Other Wildlife in Peril

Aug 3, 2018 | Abida Rahman Chowdhury, The Daily Star

The Asian Elephants which entered Bangladesh for the forests of Teknaf and Ukhiya, did not plan on staying here for long. Because they remember their…


Iraq: Iraq's Farmers Hit Hard by Water Shortages

Aug 3, 2018 | Arwa Ibrahim, Al Jazeera

The canals branching out of the Tigris river and into the adjoining farmlands are empty and dry. Devoid of water, the rice, wheat and barley fields…


Nepal: Nepal Moves to Ensure 'Untouchables' among Those to Get Forest Protection Cash

Aug 3, 2018 | Purple Romero, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Krishna Maya Sunar's situation is unusual - and not only because she was one of the earliest Nepali recipients of money from a REDD+ project,…


Myanmar: Justice for Myanmar’s Farmers

Aug 2, 2018 | Eijas Ariffin, The Asean Post

When the National League of Defence won the general elections in 2015, paving the way for Myanmar’s first non-military president in over half a century,…


Colombia: For Afro-Colombians, a Slow March Toward Peace

Aug 2, 2018 | Kati Hinman, NACLA

On Colombia’s Pacific coast, paramilitary violence has engulfed Afro-communities and their leaders in the wake of the peace accords. But resistance at the grassroots level…


DRC: AVZ Establishes Manono as World’s Largest Hard Rock Spodumene Deposit

Aug 2, 2018 | Ewen Hosle, Australian Mining

AVZ Minerals has released a maiden mineral resource for the Manono project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), establishing the site as a major…


Timor-Leste/Australia: Have Timor-Leste and Australia Turned the Page on Fractious Relations?

Aug 1, 2018 | Sophie Raynor, Southeast Asia Globe

When Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop arrived in Timor-Leste on her first official visit to the country in nearly five years, it marked a milestone…


Kenya: NLC Raises Alarm on Grabbing of 1,000 Acres of Kerio Valley Land

Aug 1, 2018 | Mathews Ndanyi, The Star

The National Land Commission (NLC) has raised the alarm about the grabbing of more than 1,000 acres of communal land in Kerio Valley. British firm Tullow…


South Sudan: Oil Firms Wary despite South Sudan's Peace Deal

Aug 1, 2018 | Ian Lewis, Petroleum Economist

A tentative peace agreement in South Sudan amid plans to repair infrastructure and beef-up security will go some way towards helping the country reach ambitious oil production…


Conflict Minerals: Companies Continue to Search Supply Chains for Conflict Minerals

Aug 1, 2018 | Eric Miller, Transport Topics

For the past five years, public firms across the United States have been searching out their supply chains for “conflict minerals” used to fund armed…


Senegal: 'Superfood' Craze Makes Big Business of Africa's Baobab

Aug 1, 2018 | Edward McAllister, Reuters

Taerou Dieuhiou has been shinning barefoot up baobab trees in Senegal’s southern Casamance region to collect the oblong fruit since he was 15. Business has…


Colombia: Criminal Mafias Take over Colombian Forests

Aug 1, 2018 | Maria Fernanda Lizcano, Mongabay

The region in southern Colombia is now facing an acceleration of what many have long feared: deforestation, land grabbing, expansion of the agricultural frontier, and…


South Korea: LG Chem Vows to Refrain from Using ‘Conflict Minerals’

Jul 30, 2018 | Kim Da-sol, The Korea Herald

South Korea’s leading chemicals company LG Chem said Monday it would refrain from using four “conflict materials” as part of the company’s strengthened corporate social…