International


Colombia: Double Blow to Colombian Amazon and Indigenous Groups from Armed Militants, COVID-19

Jul 31, 2020 | Dimitri Selibas, Mongabay

Colombia’s environment minister, Ricardo Lozano, says 70% of deforestation in the country stems from illegal activities, for which he blames former FARC rebels and other…


Syria/Yemen: Years of Fighting in Middle East Has Devastated Food Security, Says UN

Jul 31, 2020 | Gerald Butt, Church Times

More than 22 million people in Yemen and Syria are “in crisis or worse” in terms of food security, according to the UN World Food…


Mali: The Wells Bringing Hope in the Desert

Jul 30, 2020 | Soumaila Diarra, BBC

Water has long been at the centre of conflict in the northern regions of Mali, in West Africa. This vast water-scarce area spans 827,000 square…


Sudan: Sudan Exports Two Tonnes of Gold to Improve Economy

Jul 29, 2020 | Xinhua

Sudan on Monday exported two tonnes of gold in a bid to provide foreign currencies for the Central Bank of Sudan and improve the status…


Liberia: River Gee Citizens Reject Internal Affairs Ministry-Guided Land Dispute Resolution

Jul 29, 2020 | Gerald C. Koinyeneh, FrontPage Africa

A group of citizens hailing from River Gee County have rejected the latest decision reached by Internal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf in a bid to…


DRC: Workers at Copper Cobalt Mining Companies in DRC at COVID19 Risk

Jul 29, 2020 | Steelguru

Workers in the industrial copper-cobalt mines of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces, many owned and operated by multinationals, have been forced to choose between being confined…


Sudan: 'We Had to Eat Our Seeds for Planting': 10 Million in Sudan Facing Food Shortages

Jul 28, 2020 | Zeinab Mohammed Salih, Guardian

Almost a quarter of the population of Sudan are going hungry as conflict, rising food prices and the coronavirus take their toll. About 9.6 million…


Climate Change: Pacific Expert Urges UN Security Council to Help Stop Climate Change

Jul 28, 2020 | Radio New Zealand

A Pacific climate change expert has told the UN Security Council that stopping climate change and reversing its effects is still the most important measure…


Ukraine/Russia: Crimea Running out of Water Due to Annexation, Looks for Water Sources

Jul 28, 2020 | Oleg Sukhov, Kyiv Post

The situation with water supply in Ukraine’s Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula is becoming more critical as the Russian occupation government is looking for new water sources.…


Afghanistan: Solar Sows Surge in Afghan Opium Harvest

Jul 28, 2020 | Pamela Largue, Power Engineering International and Clarion

Solar panel arrays have been popping up across farmlands in Afghanistan to turn arid land into fertile ground. This has been widely evident in the…


Guyana: Rice, Climate Change and a Post-COVID Opportunity for Women In Guyana

Jul 24, 2020 | Daphne Ewing-Chow, Forbes

Rice, the most widely consumed staple in the world, has been one of the central protagonists in the global food crisis caused by COVID-19. Three…


Summer Academy 2020: Expansive Possibilities for the Future - Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security 2020

Jul 24, 2020 | Alan Channer and Karina Cheah, Inititives of Change

The effusive feedback from participants in the five-day 2020 Summer Academy on Land, Climate and Security vindicated the difficult decision to take the course online.…


Climate Change: Climate Emergency ‘a Danger to Peace’, UN Security Council Hears

Jul 24, 2020 | UN

The climate emergency generated by global warming, is exacerbating existing risks to international peace and security, while also creating new ones, a senior UN official…


DRC/Uganda: How Smuggled DRC Gold Passes through Entebbe

Jul 24, 2020 | Franklin Draku, Monitor

Uganda has continued to offer an exit route for gold smuggled from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) despite international concerns of fueling conflict…


Diamond Development Initiative Becomes Part of Resolve

Jul 24, 2020 | Rob Bates, JCK

The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), the Ottawa, Canada–based group that works on issues affecting artisanal diamond miners, will now become part of Resolve, the Washington, D.C.–based nongovernmental…


Iraq: Iraq on the Brink

Jul 24, 2020 | Adnan Bahiya, Ecologist

Covid-19 and the fall in oil prices has pushed Iraq towards calamity, underlining the urgency of ending the country's fossil fuel dependency.


Syria: Black Waters: Oil Spills Pollute Northeast Syria Creeks

Jul 22, 2020 | Delil Souleiman, Agence France-Presse

Oil pollution in Syria has been a growing concern since the 2011 onset of a civil war that has taken a toll on oil infrastructure…


Liberia: Liberia Responds to COVID-19 Impact on the Oil Industry

Jul 22, 2020 | William Q. Harmon, Observer

The Government of Liberia, through the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), has made significant adjustments to its bid evaluation criteria for the 2020 Offshore Licensing…


Yemen: Yemen Sees Return to Alarming Levels of Food Insecurity - UNICEF, WFP, FAO & OCHA

Jul 22, 2020 | UNICEF

Economic shocks, conflict, floods, desert locusts and now COVID-19 are creating a perfect storm that could reverse hard-earned food security gains in Yemen, warns the…


Myanmar: Many Myanmar Mining Firms Fail to Name Politically Connected Owners: Global Witness

Jul 22, 2020 | Nan Lwin, Irrawaddy

At least 10 companies in Myanmar have failed to identify “politically exposed persons”—those with links to high-ranking present or former military officials and ethnic armed…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Oil and Gas Fueling South China Sea Tensions

Jul 22, 2020 | Helen Clark, Asia Times

Vietnam’s crucial offshore energy industry is being squeezed as US-China tensions rise in the South China Sea. According to reports, China is pressing for the…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's Tussle with Semi-Autonomous Kurdish Region Seen Complicating Energy Policy

Jul 21, 2020 | Dania Saadi, S&P Global Platts

Iraq's federal government has a complicated energy relationship with the Kurdish region that is unlikely to be resolved due to differences within the semi-autonomous entity…


Liberia: Oil Spill in Liberian Capital Creates Environmental Hazard - and Opportunity

Jul 21, 2020 | Darlington Porkpa, Radio France Internationale

An oil spill in the Mesurado River in the Liberian capital Monrovia has prompted hundreds of people to rush to collect the fuel, as environmental…


Myanmar: Difficult to Enforce Law in Kachin’s Jade Mine Town: Officials

Jul 20, 2020 | Kyaw Ko Ko, Myanmar Times

Law enforcement is a major challenge in the Hpakant jade mining town in Kachin State, the site of the deadliest landslide in the country’s recent…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Did China Block Vietnam Offshore Oil Contract?

Jul 20, 2020 | Ralph Jennings, Voice of America

The sudden cancellation of an offshore drilling project commissioned by Vietnam is raising fears that the Chinese government pressured it to stop, part of Beijing’s…


South Africa Warns UN Security Council about Violence Against Women in Occupied Western Sahara

Jul 19, 2020 | Sahara Press Service

South Africa warned the UN Security Council about the increasing violations of human rights in occupied Palestine and Western Sahara, in particular the hostilities permanently…


Yemen: How a Decaying Oil Tanker became a 'Massive Floating Bomb' Risking Millions of Lives in Yemen

Jul 18, 2020 | Campbell MacDiarmid, Telegraph

Time is running out to prevent an “environmental disaster waiting to happen” in the Red Sea, the UK and the UN warned this week, as…


South Sudan: South Sudan Oil Production Plummets to 170,000 bpd Due to COVID-19

Jul 17, 2020 | Xinhua

South Sudan oil production has dropped to 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 185,000 bpd due to disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic, said a senior…


South Sudan: Local Communities Demand Implementation of Petroleum Laws

Jul 17, 2020 | Patrick Godi, Gurtong

In the face of surging coronavirus cases in South Sudan and its crippling effects, communities living in the oil producing areas have said they’re are…


Colombia: Security Council Press Statement on Colombia

Jul 16, 2020 | UN Security Council

The members of the Security Council reiterated their full and unanimous support for the peace process in Colombia and reaffirmed their commitment to working closely…