International


Climate Change: Disasters Linked to Climate Can Increase Risk of Armed Conflict

Jul 25, 2016 | Damian Carrington, Guardian

Climate-related disasters increase the risk of armed conflicts, according to research that shows a quarter of the violent struggles in ethnically divided countries were preceded…


Climate Change: Inter-Ethnic Conflict Linked to Climate Change

Jul 25, 2016 | Megan Darby, Climate Home

There is a growing awareness among security analysts that global warming can have a destabilising effect. For example, studies suggest a prolonged drought hit crop yields…


Climate Change: Inter-Ethnic Conflict Linked to Climate Change

Jul 25, 2016 | Megan Darby, Climate Home

There is a growing awareness among security analysts that global warming can have a destabilising effect. For example, studies suggest a prolonged drought hit crop yields…


Climate Change: The GOP is Leading an Effort to Block the Military from Planning for Climate Change

Jul 24, 2016 | Adam Wernick, PRI

In June, House Republicans attached an amendment to the defense authorization bill that stopped the Defense Department from spending money to plan for climate change. The…


Asia: East Asia’s State-Led Search for Energy Security

Jul 23, 2016 | Michael Hart, Diplomat

After two decades of rapid industrialization and unprecedented population growth, the demand for energy in East Asia is soaring. This has resulted in the emergence…


Asia: Human Rights Body Calls for ASEAN Land Reforms

Jul 22, 2016 | Ron Corben, Voice of America

An international human rights umbrella says the Southeast Asian region faces the threat of growing conflicts over land between investors and local people unless legal…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Renews Push for Wheat Crops Amid Ongoing Anti-Poppy Drive

Jul 22, 2016 | Latin American Herald Tribune

In renewed efforts to wean farmers off growing poppies, the Afghan government has over the past decade pushed for agriculturalists to grow wheat, of which…


Climate Change: Kerry: Climate Change as Dangerous as Terrorism

Jul 22, 2016 | Matthew Lee, Associated Press

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that climate change is as dangerous as, if not more, than the threats posed by the Islamic…


Philppines/South China Sea: Despite Legal Victory in South China Sea, Philippines' Oil Remains in Troubled Waters

Jul 22, 2016 | Enrico Dela Cruz, Reuters

The Philippines, eager to resume development of vital oil and gas reserves off its coast, will likely need to reach an accord with a Chinese…


Myanmar: Golden Promises Turn Sour in Indawgyi

Jul 22, 2016 | RJ Vogt, Myanmar Times

It is home to myriad rare creatures and even, legend says, a dragon. Pilgrims believe that gold in the surrounding hills is one of nine…


China/South China Sea: China's Secret Weapon in the South China Sea: Cyber Attacks

Jul 22, 2016 | Anni Piiparinen, Diplomat

Despite China’s great power aspirations, its cyber warriors threw a fit after losing a legal battle to the Philippines in The Hague. Within hours of…


Food Security: Obama Signs Global Food Security Act to End Hunger

Jul 21, 2016 | Fernanda Crescente, USA TODAY

A bipartisan bill promoting global food security, resilience and nutrition could make hunger history, President Obama said Wednesday during the White House Summit on Global Development. The Global Food…


Afghanistan: Pistachios, Afghans' Green Gold, Coveted by Taliban

Jul 20, 2016 | Agence France-Presse

Afghanistan takes pride in its world-class pistachios, but with looters harvesting the nuts well before maturity fears are growing that the Taliban and local strongmen…


Conflict Minerals: U.S. Companies Providing More Details in Latest Conflict Minerals Filings with SEC, but Supply Chain Transparency Challenges Remain

Jul 20, 2016 | Source Intelligence

More U.S. companies are providing greater details about their efforts to determine if their products contain conflict minerals under federal rules designed to help end…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan Worried as Afghanistan Plans to Build Dams on Kabul River

Jul 20, 2016 | Khaama Press

The Pakistani officials are worried amid reports that the Afghan government is planning to build water dams on Kabul River. The country’s Ministry of Water…


Syria/Kurdistan: US-Backed Kurdish Forces Benefiting from Oil in Syria

Jul 20, 2016 | Sirwan Kajjo, Voice of America

When Kurdish-led forces took control of Shaddadi in northeastern Syria in February, they not only pushed back Islamic State militants who had been there for…


South Sudan: CNPC Evacuates Oil Personnel from South Sudan

Jul 19, 2016 | Erwin Cifuentes, OilPrice.com

The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) evacuated 191 of its employees in South Sudan amid worries over an escalation in the armed conflict between the…


Liberia: FDA Rubbishes SDI Claims of Planned Forest Destruction

Jul 19, 2016 | Edwin M. Fayia III, Daily Observer

The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has taken serious exception to claims made by the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) in an open letter from Goldman Prize…


Cambodia: Wetlands Threatened by Coastal Land Grabs

Jul 19, 2016 | Phak Seangly, Phnom Penh Post

The Council of Ministers has urged the Ministry of Land Management to crack down on coastal land grabbing in response to a report that found…


This Drone Can Detect and Detonate Land Mines

Jul 19, 2016 | James Vincent, The Verge

MKD's designers claim that this method is up to 20 times faster than traditional de-mining techniques, and up to 200 times cheaper. The team, led…


Colombia: Coca's Comeback Forces Colombia to Rethink Drug War

Jul 18, 2016 | Joshua Goodman, Associated Press

After six straight years of declining or steady production, the amount of land under coca cultivation in Colombia began rising in 2014 and jumped 42…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Detains Anti-China Activists over South China Sea Dispute

Jul 17, 2016 | Deutsche Welle

Vietnam has detained dozens of activists at a rally protesting China's refusal to abide by an international tribunal's ruling. Vietnam and China have been locked…


Iraq: Iraq's Marshes, Once Drained by Saddam, Named World Heritage Site

Jul 17, 2016 | Reuters

A wetland in southeast Iraq, thought to be the biblical Garden of Eden and almost completely drained during Saddam Hussein's rule, has become a UNESCO…


Colombia: Oil Rich Colombia Stays Healthy, Averting disaster from Venezuela, Brazil

Jul 17, 2016 | Dawn Kissi, CNBC

Colombia is more than just the sum of its coffee and crude oil exports. The Andean nation has not been completely immune to the slump…


Myanmar: Myanmar's Jade Slump Points to a Pivot away from China

Jul 15, 2016 | Motokazu Matsui, Nikkei

The once-warm ties between Myanmar and China appear to be cooling under Myanmar's new government-led by State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.…


Colombia: Heavy Toll for Green and Indigenous Activists among Colombian Killings

Jul 15, 2016 | Camilo Mejia Giraldo, Mongabay

Colombia is on the cusp of ending five decades of internal conflict between the state and leftist guerrillas, and violence between the two sides has…


Myanmar: Traders Call on Govt to Support Jade Market

Jul 15, 2016 | Kyaw Hsu Mon, The Irrawaddy

Jade traders in Mandalay have collected signatures to accompany a proposal requesting government support for a better jade market, they told The Irrawaddy on Friday.…


Myanmar: Gems and Food Products Added to National Export Strategy

Jul 14, 2016 | Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times

The Ministry of Commerce has added gems and value-added food products to its National Export Strategy in the hope of creating thousands of new jobs.…


Nigeria: Are the Niger Delta Militants Now Targeting Oil Facilities in the South West?

Jul 14, 2016 | Adetula David, Ventures

On Tuesday night, suspected militants blew up a gas pipeline in the Ogijo area of Ogun state. Since the inauguration of President Buhari’s administration last…


Liberia: Liberia Must Pass Land Rights Bill or Risk Jeopardising Peace, Campaigners Warn

Jul 14, 2016 | Ruth Maclean, Guardian

Liberia could be plunged back into conflict if a historic land rights bill is not passed by August, civil society groups have warned. The country’s…