International


DRC: DRC Landscape Restoration Is Electrifying!

Jun 12, 2019 | Ahtziri Gonzalez, Forests News

For the 45 million people living in rural Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) there are few livelihood opportunities beyond the exploitation of forest resources.…


South Sudan: South Sudanese President Appoints New Oil Minister

Jun 12, 2019 | Denis Dumo, Reuters

The South Sudanese president has appointed a new petroleum minister, removing Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, the presidential spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday, but the reasons for…


Viet Nam: Growing Vegetables against All Odds on Spratly Islands

Jun 11, 2019 | Hồng Minh, Viet Nam News

As the last-born in a four-children family with two brothers and one sister in the central province of Quảng Ngãi, 21-year-old Phan Gia Cường never…


Myanmar: Regreening a Barren Rohingya Refugee Camp on Myanmar’s Border

Jun 11, 2019 | Kaamil Ahmed, Mongabay

Where a year ago there were only the desolate remains of a forest scythed from hills to house hundreds of thousands in the world’s largest…


Iraq: Iraq May Soon Replace Oil Wells with Solar Panels

Jun 11, 2019 | Austin Bodetti, New Arab

While Iraq's long-term prosperity has remain intertwined with the petroleum industry since the country gained independence in 1932, Iraqi entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and officials anticipate their…


Land: Touted as 'Development,' Land Grabs Hurt Local Communities, and Women Most of All

Jun 11, 2019 | Steve Lundeberg, Oregon State University

Large-scale land transactions in which nations sell huge, publicly owned parcels to foreign and domestic corporations negatively affect local women more than men, a new…


Myanmar: Gov't Lifts Ban on Plantation Teak Exports

Jun 11, 2019 | Htun Htun, Irrawaddy

The Myanmar government will again allow the exportation of raw teak and timber from state and privately-owned plantations, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation…


India: Water Wars among Monkeys as Relentless Heat Dries Ponds in MP Forests

Jun 11, 2019 | Kashif Kakvi, Newsclick

Conflict among humans over water in summer is not new, but, conflict among animal has been unheard of till date. In a shocking incident, as…


Afghanistan: The Impact of Illegal Drugs in Afghanistan on Political Settlement

Jun 10, 2019 | Wadsam

The result of a study conducted by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) with the financial support of the European Union indicates that ongoing debates on the…


Humanitarian Aid Failing to Be Feminist as Funding for Women Lags behind

Jun 10, 2019 | Nellie Peyton, Reuters

About 0.1% of humanitarian funding goes to addressing violence against women and girls worldwide, charities said on Monday, prompting calls for a new “feminist” approach…


Namibia: Namibia Promotes Women's Rights in Accessing Communal Land to Ensure Food Security

Jun 10, 2019 | Xinhua

Namibian Juliana Uushona, 46, lost her husband four years ago and with his death, she also lost their property after her in-laws took everything. With nowhere…


Iraq: Iraqi Citizens Choked by Worsening Pollution Problem, Government Negligence

Jun 10, 2019 | Nick Meyer, Arab American News

Iraq is suffering from a pollution crisis as citizens struggle with life in the slums where burning trash dumped by city officials is making life…


India/Pakistan: Climate Wars? Major India-Pakistan Conflict Predicted over Ownership of Water

Jun 9, 2019 | Nirad Mudur, New Indian Express

A whole range of issues — unending cross-border terrorism and the radicalisation of youth in Kashmir being the most prominent among them — keep India…


Venezuela: Venezuela's Mining Arc: A Legal Veneer for Armed Groups to Plunder

Jun 8, 2019 | Bram Ebus, Guardian

Venezuela claims to possess some of the largest untapped gold and coltan reserves in the world, and the country’s gold rush picked up when the…


Myanmar: World Oceans Day 2019: This Luxury Eco-Resort in Myanmar Is Cleaning up the Sea

Jun 8, 2019 | Hayley Skirka, National

Despite having opened its doors just six months ago, the Awei Pila Resort in Myanmar’s remote Mergui archipelago has already had a positive impact on…


Sierra Leone: Academic Uses Film to Raise Plight of Sierra Leone Diamond Miners

Jun 7, 2019 | Matthew Reisz, Times Higher Education

It is widely known that “blood diamonds” played a major role in funding the rebel Revolutionary United Front during the ghastly civil war in Sierra…


Groups Join Forces to Fight Military Toxic Exposure

Jun 7, 2019 | Leo Shane III, Military Times

More than a dozen veterans advocacy groups will join forces to track and highlight toxic exposure illnesses among former military members in an attempt to…


Women as Climate Action Ambassadors in Coastal Districts of India's Odisha State

Jun 7, 2019 | UN Environment

People in the coastal districts of the eastern Indian state of Odisha are increasingly suffering from the effects of climate change. Most households in the…


Iraq: Iraq Harvests Go up in Smoke, but Who Lit the Fires?

Jun 6, 2019 | Marwan Ibrahim with Ammar Karim, Agence France-Presse

Resurgent jihadists, ethnic land disputes or regular field burning? Iraq's northern farmlands are on fire, but the area's complex patchwork of grievances has made it…


Afghanistan: As Pressure for Afghan Peace Grows, Drug Threat Remains

Jun 6, 2019 | Reuters

As pressure grows for a political settlement to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan, the drug trade remains a major threat, leaving the country…


Syria: Syria Fighting Destroying Crops as Food Used as 'Weapon of War', UN Says

Jun 5, 2019 | Mina Aldroubi, National


Syria: Vital Cropland Destroyed by Escalation of Syria's Violence - WFP

Jun 5, 2019 | Kuwait News Agency

The senior spokesperson of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Geneva Herve Verhoosel on Tuesday said, "The latest outbreak in violence in Idlib and…


South Sudan: South Sudan Sets up Transparent Mechanism to Boost Non-Oil Revenue

Jun 5, 2019 | Xinhua

South Sudan said Wednesday its efforts to boost non-oil revenue collection will be enhanced with the recently set up harmonized system code aimed at ensuring…


Climate Change: Global Peace and Stability Depend on Climate Security

Jun 5, 2019 | Government of the UK

Foreign and Commonwealth Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, Mark Field, highlighted the importance of factoring the risks of climate change into all…


Afghanistan: Glacial Melt Stokes Fears in Northeast Afghanistan

Jun 5, 2019 | Naimatullah Ahmadi and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara

Melting glaciers in a remote Afghan province pose a major threat to the country’s water resources, climate, and economic prospects. Ziaul Haq Kamran heads Afghanistan’s…


Gaza: Collapsing Environmental State of Gaza Poses Threat to Israel's National Security, Report Warns

Jun 5, 2019 | Zafrir Rinat

Sewage dumping and air pollution could severely effect desalination plants and smog levels, experts say, warning none of Gaza's groundwater will be fit for human…


Middle East: How the Middle East's Drought Cycle Will Probably Lead to Even More Refugees

Jun 4, 2019 | Rachel Delia Benaim, Weather Channel

The Middle East is experiencing its most severe drought in 900 years, according to NASA-- one which is seemingly endless. The drought peaked between 2006-2010,…


DRC: Cobalt: The Dark Side of a Clean Future

Jun 4, 2019 | James Gordon, Raconteur

An estimated 35,000 children work in perilous conditions to extract cobalt from the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So what will the impact…


Myanmar: Karen Groups Aim to Strengthen Customary Land Management System in KNU Areas

Jun 4, 2019 | Karen News

The Kaw Customary Land Seminar was attended by 519 people including representatives from local community and civil society, donors, INGOs, political parties, and officers of…


Colombia: Avocado Diplomacy: Supporting Peace in Colombia

Jun 4, 2019 | Marc Gilkey, American Foreign Service Association

Avocado market access was at the core of all issues. It was a talking point in nearly every speech by Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos.…