International


Myanmar: Dolphin-Enabled Livelihood on the Ayeyarwady

Oct 2, 2018 | Maizura Ismail, Asean Post

On a stretch of the Ayeyarwady river, also known as the Irrawaddy river, near Myanmar’s Mandalay, fishermen from six villages work hand-in-fin with 26 Irrawaddy…


Food Security: UNGA Side Event Elicits Ways to Break Conflict-Hunger Cycle

Oct 2, 2018 | Ana Maria Lebada, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Officials from governments and international organizations discussed ways to address the link between conflict and hunger, in order to reduce both. They called for increased…


Jordan: Water Scarcity Discourse at Heart of Internal and Regional Politics — Scholar

Oct 1, 2018 | Saeb Rawashdeh, Jordan Times

While water scarcity in Jordan has been widely researched, mainly from an engineering perspective, less is known from the water politics angle, a Jordanian scholar…


Myanmar: Acacia Becomes Myanmar's Plantation Tree of Choice

Oct 1, 2018 | Kyaw Ye Lynn, Frontier

A fast-growing species of acacia from Australasia has become the tree of choice for commercial plantations in Myanmar, including those planned as part of a…


Timor-Leste: East Timor Eyes Billion-Dollar Oil Bonanza, as Wildcat Drilling Starts in 2019

Oct 1, 2018 | Damon Evans, Forbes

Timor Resources will drill its first exploration well onshore East Timor in April 2019 as it attempts to uncover an oil bonanza for the Southeast…


Iraq: Boiling Basra: Residents Afraid of Their Taps as Iraq's Water Crisis Threatens to Destabilise the Region

Oct 1, 2018 | Bel Trew, Independent

Basra’s water crisis is the final tipping point of a long list of woes in a town that has been rocked by protests and riots…


Afghanistan: MAIL Promoting Aloe Vera as Alternative to Poppy

Oct 1, 2018 | Zabihullah Jahanmal, TOLOnews

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) on Monday said that under the alternate poppy cultivation project, it will establish 75 greenhouses in three provinces to promote cultivation of aloe vera.…


Climate Change: The US Defense Department Is Losing the Battle against Climate Change

Oct 1, 2018 | Daniel Ross, EcoWatch

Given the immediate threat of rising sea levels, the U.S. Navy is leading the charge to better understand these impacts at the ground level. Last…


Climate Change: Workshop on Climate Change and Security

Oct 1, 2018 | Peace Research Institute Oslo

On 27-28 September 2018, the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and PRIO co-hosted a joint Workshop on Climate Change and Security…


Philippines: 8 Ex-Rebels Linked to Land-Grabbing Arrested in Benguet; Firearms Seized

Oct 1, 2018 | Zaldy Comanda, Manilla Bulletin

Eight men tagged by police as members of a gun-running and land-grabbing syndicate were arrested by police in a recent raid that also resulted in…


Iraq: Drought-Stricken Iraq Pleads for More Water from Upstream Neighbours

Sep 30, 2018 | Campbell MacDiarmid, The National

Amid a worsening water crisis at home, Iraq’s foreign minister used his time at the UN podium on Saturday to call on upstream neighbours to…


South Sudan: South Sudan Eyes Fishery Sector as Alternative to Oil

Sep 29, 2018 | Xinhua

South Sudan plans to develop its fishery industry in an effort to boost the revenue base of the oil-dependent country. The country's council of ministers…


Iraq: Oil-Rich but Powerless: Who Can Solve Iraq's Electricity Crisis?

Sep 29, 2018 | Al Jazeera

Since the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) last year there have been widespread protests about a…


Afghanistan: Former Mining Owner ‘Defrauds’ Govt out of Almost $16 Million

Sep 28, 2018 | TOLOnews

The US Department of Justice announced this week that the former owner of Marble Mining Company in Afghanistan was convicted for defrauding the US government and defaulting on a $15.8 million loan. The…


Colombia: Land Defenders Increasingly Murdered with Impunity

Sep 28, 2018 | Democracy Now!

In Colombia, human rights groups are warning of an epidemic of murders targeting environmentalists and leaders of social movements. New statistics compiled by a Colombian…


South Sudan: South Sudan’s ‘Relentless Conflict’ Leaves almost 60 Percent Suffering Desperate Food Crisis

Sep 28, 2018 | UN

The warning follows the release of a report on Friday, indicating that it is only large-scale humanitarian assistance being provided in many areas of the…


Iraq: Conflict and Drought Ravage Iraq's Prized Date Palms

Sep 28, 2018 | Sarah Benhaida, Phys.org

Sweet Iraqi dates adorn tables in homes across the country, but the fruit tree and national symbol has come under threat from conflict and crippling…


Iraq: Iraqi Officials Trained to Assess Oil-Contaminated Sites from ISIL Conflicts

Sep 28, 2018 | Priyanka Shrestha, Energy Live News

A total of 26 national experts from Iraq have been trained to assess and clean-up oil-contaminated sites from the conflict in the country. UN Environment…


Afghanistan: From Heroin to Roses: How Afghan Farmers Are Reducing Poppy Farming One Rose at a Time. [Video]

Sep 28, 2018 | Al Jazeera

Video: Roses replace opium poppies in Afghanistan


Climate Change: Trawling for Peace in a Warming Planet

Sep 27, 2018 | UN Environment

Annually, more than 80 million metric tons of seafood is harvested from the oceans, providing nearly 3 billion people with more than 20 per cent of…


South Sudan: South Sudan Study Measures Cost of Conflict on Overall Mortality

Sep 27, 2018 | Africa Times

Five years of war in South Sudan has likely led to nearly 400,000 excess deaths, about half of them directly because of the violence, according…


South Sudan: Who Will Gain from South Sudan's Expanded Oil Production?

Sep 27, 2018 | Benita van Eyssen, Deutsche Welle

Juba is keen to see the black gold pumping as South Sudan emerges out of a civil war that caused close on 400,000 deaths. DW…


Myanmar: Poachers Are Killing Myanmar’s Elephants in Increasing Numbers

Sep 27, 2018 | Stephen Starr

While the plight facing elephants across Africa has attracted significant international condemnation, and rightly so, less reported is the surging demand for elephant skin in…


South Sudan: Who Will Gain from South Sudan's Expanded Oil Production?

Sep 27, 2018 | Benita van Eyssen, Deutsche Welle

Juba is keen to see the black gold pumping as South Sudan emerges out of a civil war that caused close on 400,000 deaths. DW…


Myanmar: The Jade Scramble: Life at the Bottom of the Mines

Sep 26, 2018 | Libby Hogan, Democratic Voice of Burma

The fruits of the jade trade are mostly enjoyed by Burmese and Chinese businessmen, the military elite and ethnic armed groups. Few profits return to…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Hails New, Improved Hydrometerological Service

Sep 26, 2018 | World Meteorological Organization

A WMO-led project to establish a functioning hydrometeorological service in Afghanistan to improve early warnings and provide accessible and accurate weather forecasts to increase resilience…


Climate Change: Rising Seas, Shrinking Lakes, Extreme Weather Events Show How Large Threat of Climate Change Looms, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Group of Friends

Sep 26, 2018 | UN

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Group of Friends on Climate and Security, in New York today:


Iraq: Once Iraq's Venice, Basra's Waters Have Now Turned Deadly

Sep 26, 2018 | Mohammed Kadhim Atti, Reuters

Once dubbed the “Venice of the Middle East” for its canals, Iraq’s crumbling port city of Basra is slowly dying of thirst.

Once dubbed the 'Venice…


Conflict Minerals: Ethical Metals: Cobalt Traders Adopt Blockchain to Gain 'Automated Trust' as Demand from EVs Sector Grows

Sep 26, 2018 | Siobhan Hall, Diana Kinch, and Xinyue Zhang, S&P Global Platts

Demand for clean, responsibly-sourced metal for use in electric vehicle batteries and smartphones has spawned a new market for technology companies: offering blockchain services to…


Climate Change: Climate-Related Conflict Discussed at Auckland Workshop

Sep 25, 2018 | Radio New Zealand

Climate-related conflict and security issues in the Pacific will be examined by experts from around the world in Auckland this week. Co-hosted by Otago University's…