International


Myanmar: Businesses Misusing Farmland Face Hefty Fines, Warns Minister

Feb 20, 2019 | Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times

The government will punish people and companies that use farmland for purposes other than growing crops with a fine of 30 percent of the land’s market…


Brazil: Brazil's First Indigenous Congresswoman Defends Her People's Rights From Bolsonaro

Feb 19, 2019 | Fabiano Maisonnave

When indigenous leader Joênia Wapichana first came across Jair Bolsonaro, she was appalled. The year was 2008, and there was a heated debate about the demarcation…


Climate Change: Lake Chad Water Crisis, Climate Change Take Centre Stage at Hague Conference

Feb 19, 2019 | Africa Prime News

World leaders have converged on The Hague, Netherlands to call on countries to take urgent actions toward reducing the impact of climate change to water,…


Climate Change: Climate Change Will Fuel More Wars and Displacement in the Middle East, Experts Warn

Feb 19, 2019 | Borzou Daragahi, Independent

The most volatile region in the world is about to be plunged into further chaos because of climate change, academics and international officials warned at…


Liberia: NGO Coalition Urges Gov’t to Investigate Operations of Delta Timber Company

Feb 19, 2019 | Edwin M. Fayia, III, Observer

A lead civil society actor, NGO Coalition of Liberia, has urged the government to institute an investigation into the alleged illegal logging of Delta Timber…


Climate Change: Climate Change an 'Imminent' Security Threat, Risk Experts Say

Feb 19, 2019 | Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Climate change threats - from worsening water shortages in Iraq and Pakistan to harsher hurricanes in the Caribbean - are a growing security risk and…


Myanmar: The Race to Save Myanmar's Inle Lake

Feb 19, 2019 | Nyaung Shwe, Agence France-Presse

Myanmar's famed Inle Lake has enchanted tourists for decades with its floating gardens and the graceful leg-rowing style of its fisherman, but experts warn the…


Colombia: Aggressive Coca Eradication Threatens Voluntary Substitution Efforts in Colombia

Feb 19, 2019 | Felipe Puerta and Maria Paula Chaparro, InSight Crime

Colombia’s government plans to deploy an ambitious program to forcefully eradicate illicit crops, raising fears that a crop substitution program, which has been limping along…


Afghanistan: As Afghanistan’s Capital Grows, Its Residents Scramble for Clean Water

Feb 19, 2019 | Stefanie Glinkski, IRIN

Afghanistan’s capital is running dry – its groundwater levels depleted by an expanding population and the long-term impacts of climate change. But its teeming informal…


Uganda: Massive Deforestation by Refugees in Uganda Sparks Clashes with Local People

Feb 18, 2019 | Samuel Okiror, Guardian

The cutting down of millions of trees has sparked angry clashes in parts of Uganda between local people and refugees who have been fleeing conflict…


China/South China Sea: Chinese Analysts Call for Joint Marine Research to Move beyond Conflicts in South China Sea

Feb 17, 2019 | Liu Caiyu, Global Times

Fishery cooperation in the South China Sea should move beyond the idea of disputed areas and regard fish protection as the primary goal  of cooperation,…


Conflict Minerals: Apple Mentions Blockchain Guidelines in Conflict Minerals Report to the SEC

Feb 16, 2019 | Max Mayer, Smartereum

According to the Conflict Minerals Report that was published yesterday, February 15th, Apple is working on forming blockchain guidelines as part of its Responsible Minerals…


Kenya/Somalia: Kenya Recalls Ambassador to Somalia over Water Rights Clash

Feb 16, 2019 | Associated Press

A top Kenyan official says the country has recalled its ambassador to Somalia and told the Somali ambassador to leave over an alleged land grab…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq’s KRG Suspends Oil Exports to Iran

Feb 16, 2019 | Ali Mohamed, Anadolu Agency

The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq has suspended oil exports to neighboring Iran. In a statement, the KRG’s Ministry of Finance and Economy…


Conflict Minerals: Apple Terminated Five Suppliers after Human Rights Audits, Conflict Minerals Report Reveals

Feb 15, 2019 | Jesse Hollington, iDrop News

Apple has long been committed to Supplier Responsiblity; ensuring that all of the companies in its supply chain, from the mines that produce the raw…


Climate Change: Munich Security Conference Puts Climate Change and the Sahel on the Security Agenda ahead of PSC 2019

Feb 14, 2019 | Planetary Security Initiative

The most influential global figures in international security policy gathering this week (February 15-17) at MSC 2019 will consider climate change alongside issues of trade, arms…


Myanmar: How Myanmar Indigenous Peoples Defend Their Rights over Natural Resources

Feb 14, 2019 | Clemente Bautista, Bulatlat

In December 18, 2018, the Karen people formally declared the establishment of the Salween Peace Park, a 5,485-square kilometer forest park in Hpapun District, Karen…


Myanmar: Eco Green City to Commence by Year End

Feb 14, 2019 | Htet Shine, Myanmar Times

A final agreement giving the go ahead for development of the Eco Green City project is expected to be inked before the end of this…


Climate Change: How Devastating Is Climate Change for World Peace & Security?

Feb 13, 2019 | Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service

When the Security Council, the most powerful body at the United Nations, met last month to discuss the growing new threats to world peace and…


Congress Poised to Help Veterans Exposed to ‘Burn Pits’ over Decades of War

Feb 13, 2019 | Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times

Tens of thousands of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were exposed to burn pits, which were regularly used to dispose of all manner…


Iraq: Iran-Backed Groups Corner Iraq's Postwar Scrap Metal Market - Sources

Feb 13, 2019 | John Davison, Reuters

The wrecks of vehicles used by Islamic State militants as car bombs and other metal debris left by the war in Iraq are now helping…


Iraq: Can Iraq Beat the Drought and Become the Breadbasket of the Middle East Again?

Feb 13, 2019 | Kieran Cooke, Middle East Eye

The area of land in the south of Iraq between the mighty Tigris and Euphrates rivers is drying up. Yet amid this environmental meltdown, Azzam…


Myanmar: 23 Aceh Fishermen Detained in Myanmar for Alleged Poaching

Feb 13, 2019 | Antara

The Myanmar authorities again detained 23 Aceh fishermen on February 6, 2019, for alleged poaching in Myanmar waters, according to Miftachhuddin Cut Adek, deputy secretary…


Afghanistan: Afghan Women Are ‘Not Willing to Give up Their Rights’

Feb 13, 2019 | Elias Groll and Lara Seligman, Foreign Policy

American diplomats have been racing to seal a peace deal with the Taliban that would end the longest war in U.S. history—and decades of civil…


Climate Change: Climate Change Seen as Top Threat in 13 Countries

Feb 13, 2019 | Ines Kagubare, E&E News

Climate change beats out terrorism and cyberattacks as the top security worry in more than a dozen countries, according to a survey published Sunday by…


Myanmar: ‘Our Land Is Collapsing around Us’: Ayeyarwady at Risk from Rampant Sand Mining

Feb 13, 2019 | Hein Ko Soe and Clare Hammond, Frontier

Since 2010, a construction boom in Myanmar has fuelled sharp growth in the extraction of sand from the Ayeyarwady that is then used in cement…


Iraq: Iraq's PM Says Solving Water Pollution Prioritized for Iraq

Feb 11, 2019 | Xinhua

Prime Minister of Iraq Adel Abdul Mahdi on Sunday said that solving river water pollution issue is a priority for the new government, calling on…


Myanmar: Illegal Teak Timbers Seized in Myanmar's Yangon Region

Feb 11, 2019 | Xinhua

Myanmar authorities have seized six tons of illegally harvested teak timbers in Taikkyi, Yangon region, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Monday. According…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: With Kabul River Flows Controversy

Feb 10, 2019 | Zofeen T. Ebrahim, The News on Sunday

With tremendous hydropower potential in the upper reaches of the Kabul River Basin and agricultural potential further down, Asadullah Meelad, a lawyer at Afghanistan’s ministry…


Myanmar: Parliament Passes Gemstone Bill amid Criticism

Feb 8, 2019 | Thompson Chau, Myanmar Times

Myanmar’s parliament has passed a controversial bill governing the gemstone sector, paving the way to restart the licensing of mining companies after a two-year moratorium.…