News

The Middle East’s Next War Will Be over Water

Jan 15, 2026 | Jose Lev Alvarez Gomez

The Middle East is not running out of slogans. It is running out of water. And while pundits remain hypnotized by manifestos, missiles, and terrorist…

Australia: Water Wars ahead Now Australia’s Longest River Officially Critically Endangered

Jan 15, 2026 | Mike Foley
Sydney Morning Herald

Australia’s longest waterway is under such dire threat of collapse that the entire lower Murray River ecosystem, which stretches nearly 1000 kilometres from western NSW,…

Call for Proposal: Gender, Climate, and Social Cohesion

Jan 15, 2026 | UN Women Asia and the Pacific
UN Women Asia and the Pacific

Given Afghanistan's increased climate vulnerability and the dispropotionate impact on women anand girls, this CfP aims to (1) leverage media platforms (TV, radio, digital initiatives)…

'Blood Minerals' in DR Congo - Myth or Reality?

Jan 14, 2026 | Alex Mvuka Ntung

“Blood minerals” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) commonly refer to tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold (3TG). A widely promoted narrative, advanced…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Mines Fuel the War Economy

Jan 14, 2026 | Asif Zaeer Gondal
Lead Pakistan

Recent accounts of Afghanistan’s war driven economy point to an alarming reality. Control over mineral resources has become a means of coercion and financing for…

Greenland: Trump Insists US Needs Greenland for Security as Danish and Greenlandic Foreign Ministers Visit Washington

Jan 14, 2026 | Aarif Lashari
The Swamp

US President Donald Trump has once again insisted that the United States “needs” Greenland for national and global security, reviving a controversial idea as the…

Myanmar: Gold Mining Resumes in Putao Following Election

Jan 14, 2026
Myitkyina Journal

Some gold mining operations in Putao District, Kachin State, which had been temporarily suspended, have resumed following the junta-run election. The junta is holding the…

Geoeconomic Conflict Overshadows Climate in WEF Risk Report

Jan 14, 2026 | Robin Hicks
Eco-Business

Geoeconomic confrontation has surged to the top of the world’s risk register for 2026, as rising rivalry between major powers, economic instability and technological anxiety…

Unearthing Power: Will the DRC Break Free of the “Resource Curse?”

Jan 13, 2026 | Diego Tobon

Explore how the Democratic Republic of the Congo can escape the resource curse and turn its mineral-rich geology into leverage in the global green transition,…

Ukraine/Russia: Ukraine Strikes Oil Tanker Near Russia 'Assisting Putin to Break Sanctions'

Jan 13, 2026 | Will Stewart and Gavin Quinn
Daily Express

Two purported Ukrainian drones launched an attack on the Liberian-flagged tanker Delta Harmony near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, as per sources favoring Moscow. This…

Mali: Combating Climate Change for Peace in Mali

Jan 13, 2026 | Tara Abhasakun
Peace News Network

Mali is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world. Between 1970 and 2020, the country experienced at least 40 major…

Somalia: ‘Catastrophic’ Turn in Prolonged Food Crisis Imminent, Caritas Somalia Director Warns

Jan 13, 2026 | Ngala Killian Chimtom
Crux

As more than 4.6 million people in Somalia are reeling from one of the worst droughts in decades, the executive director of Caritas in the…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Mines Fuel the War Economy

Jan 13, 2026 | Asif Zaeer Gondal

Recent accounts of Afghanistan’s war driven economy point to an alarming reality. Control over mineral resources has become a means of coercion and financing for…

Colombia/Peru: Where Rivers Redraw Nations: Amazon Island Dispute Tests Peru-Colombia Ties

Jan 13, 2026 | Neil Giardino
Anadolu Agency

Home to roughly 3,000 people, Santa Rosa has recently become the focus of a territorial rift between the two nations, raising questions of sovereignty, river…

Rwanda: How Cooperatives Are Cultivating Food Security in Rwanda

Jan 12, 2026
Cordaid

As climate shocks intensify across East Africa, Rwanda’s smallholder farmers face an existential threat: erratic rainfall and unpredictable seasons are rendering traditional farming methods obsolete,…

Bangladesh/Myanmar: Teknaf Farmers, Fishermen in Panic over Myanmar Armed Conflict

Jan 12, 2026
Deshkal News

The ongoing armed conflict inside Myanmar is having a direct impact on Bangladesh’s territory along the Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar. The lives and livelihoods…

Afghanistan: Taliban Gold Rush Turns Deadly, Putting Spotlight on Chinese-Backed Mining

Jan 11, 2026
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

A deadly confrontation at a gold mine in northern Afghanistan has cast new light on the Taliban’s push to expand gold extraction, raising questions about…

Afghanistan: Helmand Residents Say Solar-Powered Wells Fail to Meet Water Needs in Winter

Jan 10, 2026 | Sharif Amiry
Amu TV

Residents of Nad Ali district in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province say they are struggling to access drinking water during the winter months as reduced sunlight…

Remote: Senior Expert Consultant on Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans, ACRO, UN Women

Jan 9, 2026 | UN Women
UN Women

I. Organizational context 

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against…

Russia’s War on Ukrainian Farmers Threatens Global Food Security

Jan 8, 2026 | Oleksandr Tolokonnikov

Over the past year, Russian attacks on Ukraine’s agricultural sector have escalated alarmingly. According to research conducted by the University of Strasbourg, the University of…

Myanmar: Myitsone Dam Controversy and Military Clashes Escalate in Myanmar

Jan 8, 2026
Deshkal News

As of 8 January 2026, the National Unity Government (NUG) has condemned the military junta’s attempt to revive the controversial Myitsone Dam project, calling it…

Venezuela: US Seizes Russian-Flagged Tanker, Another Tied to Venezuela as Trump Widens Oil Push

Jan 8, 2026
Reuters

The US seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, one sailing under Russia's flag, as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive…

Liberia: Ganta Old Market, the Once Disputed Land That Could Reignite Old Fault Lines

Jan 8, 2026 | Ishmael F. Menkor
Observer

More than fifteen years after the Liberian government declared the disputed Ganta Old Market ground an Eminent Domain, the once-bustling commercial space remains overgrown with…

Iraq/Russia: Iraq to Nationalise West Qurna 2 Oilfield Operations, Government Says

Jan 8, 2026 | Moayed Kenany and Ahmed Rasheed
Reuters

Iraq's cabinet has approved plans to nationalise operations at the West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the world's largest, as the government looks to avert…

Ukraine: 1 Million without Water, Heat after Russian Strike

Jan 8, 2026 | Louis Oelofse
Deutsche Welle

Ukraine says overnight Russian strikes targeted energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, amid freezing temperatures. Meanwhile, Russia says foreign troops sent to Ukraine would be…

India/Pakistan: Water Weaponisation and the Indus Crisis: A Treaty Broken, a Region at Risk

Jan 7, 2026 | Arshad H. Abbasi
Friday Times

The land between the rivers, the cradle of human civilisation, is being transformed, carefully and deliberately, into its grave. History is not merely repeating itself;…

Afghanistan: Taliban Halt Gold Mining Operations in Takhar, Detain Two after Deadly Clashes

Jan 7, 2026
Afghanistan International

The Taliban have suspended the operations of a gold mining company in Chah Ab district of Takhar province and detained two people on suspicion of…

Environmental Peacebuilding: 2025 in Review

Jan 6, 2026 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

Dear friends and colleagues, 

There are many ways to describe 2025 for the environmental peacebuilding community.  Brutal.  Painful.  Scary.  Demoralizing.  It was all that, and more.

2025…

The Grammar of Rivers: Choosing Cooperation over Conflict in the Indus

Jan 6, 2026 | Rajeev Kumar Jha

Geography and its ecosystems uniquely shape the connections and boundaries that define regions. While society may seek to define itself through religion, culture, language, race,…

Afghanistan: Taliban Send Delegation to Probe Takhar Gold Mine Clash

Jan 6, 2026 | Ahmad Azizi
Amu TV

The Taliban-run mines ministry said on Tuesday that a delegation has been sent to the northeastern province of Takhar to investigate deadly clashes over a…