International
Afghanistan: The Unseen Drought: How Widespread Female Illiteracy Threatens Water Conservation
Jan 20, 2026
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Numan Rahim
Khaama Press
Female illiteracy in Afghanistan undermines water conservation, leaving millions at risk as households struggle with scarcity, poor hygiene, and inefficient water use practices.
While global water…
Israel/Palestine: From Ruins to Renewal: Gaza's Farmers Seek to Restore Harvests after Conflict
Jan 19, 2026
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Maxime Le Lijour
World Food Programme
Over 100 days into the ceasefire, WFP has significantly expanded operations and helped to push back famine - even as farmers like Isa Shamallah slowly…
Afghanistan: Around 2.8 Million Afghan Refugees Returned; Thousands of Jeribs of Land Distributed to Them
Jan 18, 2026
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Nasrat Sarwari
Radio Omid
Mullah Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, has stated that approximately 2.8 million Afghan refugees have been forcibly returned over the past…
Syria: Syrian Army Seizes Country's Largest Oil Field from Kurdish Forces
Jan 18, 2026
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Henri Astier
BBC
Syrian troops fighting Kurdish forces in north-eastern Syria have seized the country's largest oilfield. The Omar facility and nearby gas fields are under army control…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Heroin Boom Years Ended with US Military Exit, UN Report Shows
Jan 17, 2026
bne IntelliNews
Opium production in Afghanistan boomed during the two decades in which largely US forces propped up a Washington-approved government – but it has collapsed since…
Afghanistan: UN Warns of Triple Crisis in Afghanistan: Drought, Migrant Return and Funding Shortfalls
Jan 17, 2026
Ariana News
The United Nations has raised an urgent alarm over Afghanistan’s worsening humanitarian crisis, citing three simultaneous challenges that are significantly straining the country’s stability and…
Colombia: Colombia Poised for Another Drop in Deforestation in 2025, Data Show
Jan 16, 2026
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Maxwell Radwin
Mongabay
Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments that have historically struggled with forest loss.
An estimated 36,280 hectares…
Egypt/Ethiopia: Trump Offers to Mediate Egypt-Ethiopia Dispute on Nile River Waters
Jan 16, 2026
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Trevor Hunnicutt
Reuters
US President Donald Trump offered on Friday to mediate a dispute over Nile River waters between Egypt and Ethiopia. Addis Ababa's September 9 inauguration of…
Myanmar: Land Prices Soar in Western Karenni as War Displaces Thousands
Jan 15, 2026
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Aung Naing
Myanmar Now
Displacement, financial hardship and investor interest have sent land prices skyrocketing in parts of Karenni, even as fighting with the junta grinds on.
Australia: Water Wars ahead Now Australia’s Longest River Officially Critically Endangered
Jan 15, 2026
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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,…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Mines Fuel the War Economy
Jan 14, 2026
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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
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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
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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…
Ukraine/Russia: Ukraine Strikes Oil Tanker Near Russia 'Assisting Putin to Break Sanctions'
Jan 13, 2026
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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
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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
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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…
Colombia/Peru: Where Rivers Redraw Nations: Amazon Island Dispute Tests Peru-Colombia Ties
Jan 13, 2026
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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
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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…
Venezuela: Five Keys to Understanding Venezuela’s Oil History
Jan 9, 2026
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Johani Carolina Ponce
Yale Climate Connections
Venezuela’s oil industry has once again returned to the center of international debate. US President Donald Trump announced new actions against the Venezuelan government on…
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
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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
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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
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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
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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…