International


Myanmar: Myanmar Jade Traders Squeezed between Junta and Rebels

Nov 5, 2021 | Agence France-Presse

Myanmar jade traders are running from junta troops and dodging rebel attacks to sell dwindling volumes of the green gemstone, as the billion-dollar industry loses…


Colombia: Deforestation Rising in Colombia 5 Years after Peace Deal

Nov 4, 2021 | Manuel Rueda, Associated Press

Deforestation has risen in Colombia since the country’s largest guerilla group signed a historic peace deal with the government five years ago and withdrew from…


Sudan: Sudan’s Political Crisis Could Complicate Nile Dam Dispute

Nov 3, 2021 | Ayah Aman, Al-Monitor

Less than 24 hours after the coup by Sudanese army chief Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Oct. 25 against the civilian element of the…


Climate Change: NATO Chief: Armies Must Keep Pace with Global Climate Efforts

Nov 2, 2021 | Mark John, Reuters

The world's armies must keep pace with global efforts to tackle climate change and cut their huge carbon footprints according to clearly defined benchmarks, NATO…


Solomon Islands: Introducing the Customary Land Recording and Bylaw Development Processes

Nov 1, 2021 | UNDP

The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey in close partnership with the UN Development Programme and UN Women have organized a three-day forum to present…


Iraq: The Massive Challenge of Climate Action in Oil-Dependent Iraq

Nov 1, 2021 | Lizzie Porter, New Statesman

Oil provides 90 per cent of Iraq’s revenue. Even as farmland dries up, fractured governance makes reform seem almost impossible.


East Africa: Climate Change Pressure Fueling Conflict in Horn of Africa

Oct 31, 2021 | Francis Mureithi, Nation

Communities in the Horn of Africa have been urged to address challenges occasioned by climate change, which threatens to exacerbate both the frequency and severity…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Saffron Growers Worried Taliban Will Ban Heavily Female Workforce

Oct 31, 2021 | Arshad Mehmood, Media Line

Saffron has the potential to help ameliorate Afghanistan’s dire economic difficulties. The country has long produced some of the best saffron in the world, and…


COP26: Why Are Women Still Missing at the Top Climate Table

Oct 30, 2021 | Bonnie Chiu

When the global face to climate action is Greta Thunberg, it can appear that women and girls are well represented at the top table. As…


Half of Syria Has Been Displaced by War. Now Record Drought Threatens Millions More

Oct 30, 2021 | Bel Trew, Independent

Today Syria is in the grips of the worst drought in 70 years. The Khabour has run completely dry like other rivers, lakes and dams…


Climate Change: Dutch PM Supports Canada's Plan to Establish NATO Centre for Climate Security

Oct 29, 2021 | Mia Rabson, Canadian Press

The Netherlands threw its support behind a new NATO centre of excellence to study the security threats posed by climate change during Prime Minister Justin…


DRC: China Wants to Dominate the Global Electric Vehicle Market – and It’s Using Congolese Minerals to Do It

Oct 29, 2021 | James Griffiths and Geoffrey York, Globe and Mail

The backlash against the Chinese miners has been rising this year, even as they face another threat: a decision by the DRC government to review…


Afghanistan: Exclusive - 'Women Encouraged to Work in Pine Nut Industry': Taliban to WION

Oct 28, 2021 | Anas Mallick, WION

Pine nuts, popularly known as Afghanistan's 'export gold', are one of the major sources of support for the country's economy, especially at a time like this…


Sierra Leone: From ECOWAS to New York: Beny Steinmetz Diamonds on Trial in Three Jurisdictions

Oct 27, 2021 | Africa Intelligence

People living close to the Koidu diamond mine in Sierra Leone fear the dismissal of a domestic court case against Beny Steinmetz's company Octea, which…


Iraq: Iraq Opts for Clean Energy in Ambitious Energy Reform Program

Oct 26, 2021 | Salam Zidane, Al-Monitor

Iraq is signing contracts with international companies to produce clean energy in a bid to curb its rising pollution curve.


Can COP26 Become a Turning Point for Gender Responsive Climate Action?

Oct 26, 2021 | Mohammad Naciri, Samantha Hung, Sun-Ah Kim

Any meaningful international effort to address climate change must have women and girls at its center.


Afghanistan: Climate Now a Worse Crisis Than War for Afghanistan’s Farmers

Oct 26, 2021 | Al Jazeera

Drought stalks the parched fields around Afghanistan’s remote district of Bala Murghab, where the climate crisis is proving a deadlier foe than the country’s recent…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Population Faces Extreme Hunger as Collapsing Economy, Drought and Conflict Hamper Access to Food

Oct 25, 2021 | Janice Dickson, Globe and Mail

More than half of Afghanistan’s population – 22.8 million people – will face extreme hunger over the winter months as the country plunges deeper into…


Afghanistan: How Turmoil in Afghanistan Has Impacted Agriculture — a Vital Part of Its Livelihood

Oct 25, 2021 | Peter Kenyon, NPR

Afghanistan is facing crisis on multiple fronts as borders are closed, farmers in the country are facing a drought and the economy is in free-fall.


Ghana: Exclusion of Women in Peacebuilding Threat to Development

Oct 22, 2021 | Prince Acquah

The Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council (NPC), Mr George Amoh, has stated that the exclusion of women in peace building and security issues…


Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Land-Filling on Disputed Reef in Spratlys, Imagery Shows

Oct 22, 2021 | Radio Free Asia

Vietnam appears to be doing new construction and land-filling on a remote reef it occupies in the disputed South China Sea, commercial satellite imagery shows.…


USA: DHS Releases First Ever Strategic Framework for Addressing Climate Change

Oct 22, 2021 | Kylie Bielby, Homeland Security Today

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its first Strategic Framework for Addressing Climate Change to govern the Department’s efforts to combat the climate…


Climate Change: Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security

Oct 21, 2021 | Christopher Flavelle, Julian E. Barnes, Eileen Sullivan, and Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times

Worsening conflict within and between nations. Increased dislocation and migration as people flee climate-fueled instability. Heightened military tension and uncertainty. Financial hazards. The Biden administration…


Climate Change: DOD Analysis Highlights Geostrategic Risks of Climate Change

Oct 21, 2021 | US Department of Defense

The Defense Department released an unclassified version of the Defense Climate Risk Analysis report today. As the global and cross-cutting consequences of climate change increase…


Syria: Syria Executes 24 People for Setting Wildfires, Calling It ‘Terrorism’

Oct 21, 2021 | Ben Hubbard, New York Times

The Syrian government has executed 24 people and sentenced 11 others to life in prison with hard labor for lighting wildfires that burned across the…


Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: Ethiopia Preps for Third Filling as Nile Dam Diplomacy Stalls

Oct 20, 2021 | Mohamed Saied, Al-Monitor

As negotiations remain stalled over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Ethiopia is beginning to make preparations for the third-stage filling of its mega hydroelectric dam on the…


Afghanistan: Taliban Promise Cash, Land to Families of Suicide Bombers Who Attacked US and Afghan Soldiers

Oct 20, 2021 | Sarakshi Rai, The Hill

The Taliban have promised relatives of suicide bombers who attacked U.S. and Afghan soldiers land and cash reward, The Associated Press reports. Interior Ministry spokesman Saeed Khosty tweeted…


Iraq: The Last of the Marsh Arabs

Oct 19, 2021 | Leon McCarron, Noema Magazine

What happens to a community and ecosystem at the nexus of geopolitical tensions and climate change? And can 6,000 years of history save them?


Myanmar: Thousands of Civilians Displaced by Myanmar Military Raids Hit by Floods

Oct 19, 2021 | Irrawaddy

Civilians displaced from their homes by fighting in Gangaw Township, Magwe Region have been hit by floods, according to local sources. Thousands of displaced residents…


Syria: Conflict Pollution Wrecking Syria Coast: Report

Oct 19, 2021 | Agence France-Presse

Leaks from moored tankers, underwater pipelines and wastewater systems are turning the Syrian coast into a major environmental hotspot, said a report released on Tuesday.…