International


Afghanistan: As the Taliban Seizes Control of Afghanistan, Coal Is a Key Source of Revenue

Aug 26, 2021 | Chloé Farand, Climate Home News

Coal played a significant role in financing the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and has strategic importance as the militants seek to govern, experts told Climate…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Region Faces Challenges to End Flaring

Aug 25, 2021 | Dilan Sirwan, Rudaw

The Kurdistan Region has given oil companies 18 months to stop flaring associated gas, a toxic byproduct of crude oil production that has been burned…


Liberia: Community Based CSOs Received Training In Gender Inclusion In Forest, Land Matters

Aug 24, 2021 | Global News Network

Community Based Organizations and Women Rights Groups in Bomi County have received training in gender inclusion in forest governance and land matters. The training was…


Iraq/Syria: Drought Sparks Fears That Millions in Syria and Iraq Will Go without Water

Aug 24, 2021 | National

Millions of people in Syria and Iraq face going without water, electricity and food amid rising temperatures, a lack of rainfall and drought, international aid…


Sudan: Ethiopian Forces Leave Disputed Abyei Area on Sudan Request

Aug 24, 2021 | Tesfa-Alem Tekle, Nation

The Sudanese government on Tuesday announced that the United Nations (UN) has agreed to withdraw its Ethiopian peacekeepers deployed in Abyei, a disputed area that…


Solomon Islands: Reconciling Customary Land and Peacebuilding in Solomon Islands

Aug 24, 2021 | Solomon Times

Three customary landholding groups in Masupa Village in the East ‘Are’are region of Malaita Province received their certificates of land recording completion in a hand-over…


Philippines: Sweden and UNDP Launch Partnership to Support Women, Peace and Security

Aug 23, 2021 | The Manila Times

The government of Sweden and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the Philippines launched a new partnership to support the integration of the women,…


Myanmar: Deforestation Surge Continues amid Deepening Uncertainty in Myanmar

Aug 23, 2021 | Carolyn Cowan, Mongabay

Amid the political turmoil following the Feb. 1 military coup, it appears that deforestation is ramping up in Tanintharyi, echoing wider patterns across Myanmar. New…


Water: Water Scarcity: What's the Big Deal?

Aug 23, 2021 | Stuart Braun, Deutsche Welle

Access to clean drinking water is a human right, but as the global population grows and the planet heats up, can we rely on this…


Iraq/Kurdistan: KRG Bans Gas Flaring: Minister

Aug 21, 2021 | Rudaw

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has ordered oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region to cease the environmentally harmful practice of gas flaring. “Starting from…


Climate Change: How Climate Change Helped Strengthen the Taliban

Aug 20, 2021 | Cara Korte, CBS News

Rural Afghanistan has been rocked by climate change. The past three decades have brought floods and drought that have destroyed crops and left people hungry.…


Climate Change: An Unstable World – What the IPCC Report Means for the Security Community

Aug 19, 2021 | Lindsey Wilkinson, Homeland Security Today

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) first section of its Sixth Assessment Report, ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science’ was recently released and while…


Afghanistan: Taliban's Return Clouds Plans for Afghan Resource Projects

Aug 19, 2021 | Tom Daly, Reuters

China could look to steal a march on wary western nations in developing resource projects in a Taliban-led Afghanistan, state media and industry sources say,…


Afghanistan: Afghan Women Are Already Fading From Public View as Fear of the Taliban and Uncertainty Prevail

Aug 19, 2021 | Margherita Stancati and Jessica Donati

Dr. Zuhal used to drive herself to work.

This week, she started taking a taxi to avoid reprisals from the Taliban, who once banned women from…


Myanmar: Myanmar Junta’s Coup Gives Greenlight to Timber Traffickers

Aug 17, 2021 | Irrawaddy

Timber logging usually takes a break in the monsoon. Even smugglers halt their activities from mid-May to early October to avoid the rainy season. However,…


Nigeria: New Rice Scheme to Engage 1000 Women, Youths

Aug 17, 2021 | Gilbert Ekugbe

Over 1000 women and youths are expected to benefit from a new rice initiative (wet season) aimed at boosting rice production in the country post…


Water Wars: How Water Shortages Are Brewing Wars

Aug 16, 2021 | Sandy Milne, BBC

Unprecedented levels of dam building and water extraction by nations on great rivers are leaving countries further downstream increasingly thirsty, increasing the risk of conflicts.


Water Wars: How Water Shortages Are Brewing Wars

Aug 16, 2021 | Sandy Milne, BBC

Unprecedented levels of dam building and water extraction by nations on great rivers are leaving countries further downstream increasingly thirsty, increasing the risk of conflicts.


Liberia: NaFAA Distributes Free Fishing Nets to Fishermen in Grand Bassa

Aug 16, 2021 | Lennart Dodoo, FrontPage Africa

The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) has fulfilled its pledge to Fishermen as over 300 received several thread nets in exchange for their rubber…


Liberia: Golden Veroleum Reacts to Rights Groups' Reports Condemning It of Illtreating Liberians

Aug 16, 2021 | FrontPage Africa

Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc. (GVL) acknowledges the report released by SDI and Milieudefensie which indicated that "GVL structurally fails to comply with obligations and commitments…


Afghanistan: The Taliban Now Controls One of the World’s Biggest Lithium Deposits

Aug 16, 2021 | Tim McDonnell, Quartz

When Taliban fighters entered Kabul on Aug. 15, they didn’t just seize control of the Afghan government. They also gained the ability to control access…


Iraq: Daesh Militants Attack Oilfield in Iraq's Kirkuk

Aug 15, 2021 | Middle East Monitor

Suspected Daesh militants used an explosive device to attack an oilfield in Iraq's northern Kirkuk province on Sunday, according to a local police officer, reports…


China/Iraq: Projects: China's CNOOC to Drill 150 Oil Wells in Iraq

Aug 15, 2021 | ZAWYA

Iraq has inked an initial agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to drill 150 wells in Buzurgan oilfield in the Southeastern Maysan Governorate, the…


Afghanistan: Profits and Poppy: Afghanistan's Illegal Drug Trade a Boon for Taliban

Aug 15, 2021 | Jonathan Landay, Reuters

The United States spent more than $8 billion over 15 years on efforts to deprive the Taliban of their profits from Afghanistan's opium and heroin…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Attack on Power Grid Shuts Down Major Water Pumping Station in Iraqi Capital

Aug 14, 2021 | Kurdistan 24

Iraqi electricity towers were taken offline on Saturday after an attack, shutting down pumping stations delivering water to the western part of Baghdad, a government…


Afghanistan: Will Afghanistan’s Centuries-Old ‘Karez’ System of Irrigation Survive the Taliban

Aug 13, 2021 | Rajat Ghai, DownToEarth

The resurgent Taliban is on the victory march to Kabul. It has already taken provincial capitals as well as Afghanistan’s third-largest city of Herat. As…


Israel/Palestine: UK Palestinian Justice Centre Defends Gallery Exhibit on Israel-Palestine Conflict

Aug 13, 2021 | Middle East Eye

A Palestinian legal centre in the UK has defended an art gallery in Manchester for displaying an exhibition highlighting the environmental effects of Israeli military…


Afghanistan: Taliban Earned $1.6 Billion In 2020: Here's How the Terrorist Group Makes Money

Aug 12, 2021 | Renz Soliman, International Business Times

The Taliban, one of the most notorious terrorist groups worldwide, has grown its financial assets through the years. The militant group earned $1.6 billion in 2020, which significantly…


Climate Change: Climate Change Is Already Disrupting the Military. It Will Get Worse, Officials Say

Aug 10, 2021 | Patrick Tucker, Defense One

The Pentagon is in the midst of a massive, multi-year effort to better adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse emissions. But the changing climate…


Ethiopia: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project and Political Conflict

Aug 10, 2021 | Borgen Magazine

In 2011, Ethiopia started construction on a dam along the Blue Nile River that the government coined the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project, GERD. Projections…