International


Afghanistan: Nearly Six Thousand Afghan Farming Families Severely Affected by Drought Targeted for Emergency Assistance

Dec 17, 2018 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

With the approval of the Government of Afghanistan, the Republic of Korea and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have joined…


Colombia: A Colombian Roadmap for Climate Change

Dec 17, 2018 | Edward Davey, City Paper Bogotá

Colombia is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change – witness the devastation caused by recent floods, as well as the setbacks…


Afghanistan: Disarmament: With Drones, Researchers Take up the Fight against Land Mines

Dec 17, 2018 | News Article Insiders

Together with his colleague, Timothy de Smet, he decided to try the principle in a field in a State Park in Binghamton tested. The use…


Myanmar: Armed Ethnic KNU Criticises Land Law Amendment

Dec 17, 2018 | Chan Thar, Myanmar Times

The armed ethnic Karen National Union (KNU) on Sunday called for the abolition of the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law because it contravenes…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Looming Water Conflict

Dec 15, 2018 | Waleed Majidyar, Diplomat

From the Mayan Empire to modern-day Syria and Yemen, water insecurity has been a predominant cause of social distress, conflict, and crisis. Studies show that…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Announces EoI for 2 GW Solar Tender

Dec 14, 2018 | Becky Beetz, pv magazine

In a bid to reduce dependence on energy imports, improve energy access for the around 70% of the Afghani population still lacking it, and to…


Timor-Leste: E. Timor President Vetoes Using Petroleum Fund to Buy Sunrise Gas Project

Dec 14, 2018 | Nelson Da Cruz, Reuters

East Timor’s president has vetoed a government bid to increase access to its petroleum fund for investment in energy projects, potentially delaying a $650 million…


Iraq: Iraq’s Charred Olive Groves - Another Ruinous Legacy of Islamic State

Dec 13, 2018 | Tom Westcott, Middle East Eye

Before the Islamic State (IS) group seized control of the rural town in mid-2014, its olive-loving locals had not imported the fruit for decades, relying…


Climate Chnage: US Blocks Climate Security Discussion at NATO Level - EU Military Staff Member

Dec 13, 2018 | Faizan Hashmi, UrduPoint

Due to the skeptical position of the US administration on climate change, a discussion on climate security has been regrettably blocked at the NATO level,…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Faces Severe Water Shortage: Osmani

Dec 13, 2018 | Haidarshah Omid, TOLOnews

Former minister of water and energy Ali Ahmad Osmani on Thursday said Afghanistan faces a severe water shortage in the northern water zone and in…


Colombia: Fragile Wetlands Face Major Threat from Climate Change in Colombia

Dec 13, 2018 | Michelle Begue, China Global Television Network

Colombia is home to a unique ecosystem which is a treasure in the northern Andes. These wetlands provide 70 percent of the country’s water supply.…


Iraq: Amnesty: Iraq Should Use Oil Revenue to Fund Reconstruction of War-Torn Areas

Dec 13, 2018 | Kurdistan 24

The Iraqi government would be wise to use an expected budget surplus to begin the reconstruction of rural areas affected by the Islamic State (IS)…


South Sudan: South Sudan’s Neighbours Help Launder the Loot from Its Civil War

Dec 13, 2018 | Economist

Since South Sudan’s independence in 2011 its leaders have pillaged the country. Nearly $7bn has gone missing since 2012, reckons Kenya’s Institute of Economic Affairs,…


Afghanistan: Red Gold: Afghanistan Saffron Production Grows

Dec 12, 2018 | Phys.org

Authorities struggling to wean farmers off the highly profitable opium poppy trade are hoping to use saffron as an attractive alternative.  And the results are…


Conflict Minerals: Responsible Minerals Initiative Releases Blockchain Guidelines to Drive Alignment in Mineral Supply Chain Due Diligence

Dec 12, 2018 | Responsible Business Alliance

The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), a coalition of leading companies dedicated to improving the security and human rights conditions in their mineral supply chains, today…


Timor-Leste: President of Timor-Leste Vetoes Changes to the Oil Operations Law

Dec 12, 2018 | Macauhub

The President of Timor-Leste (East Timor) has vetoed a set of amendments to the oil operations law focused on financing the purchase of two holdings…


Liberia: Five Counties ‘Red Zones’ for Land Conflicts in Liberia

Dec 11, 2018 | Alvin Worzi, Observer

The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) has said Liberia continues to experience huge land conflicts in Montserrado, Margibi, Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa counties as these…


Myanmar: Log Exports to Be Permitted to Lure Timber Plantations

Dec 11, 2018 | Thiha Ko Ko, Myanmar Times

The Forest Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has been planning to permit the export of logs harvested from private timber…


Syria: Syrian Civilians Seize Oil Wells from Rebel Group

Dec 11, 2018 | Irina Slav, OilPrice

A large group of Syrian civilians took control over several oil wells in eastern Syria after clashes with rebel group Syrian Democratic Forces, Iranian Fars…


Myanmar: Renewed Calls to Stop Dam Construction in Shan

Dec 11, 2018 | Naw Betty Han, Washington Post

Shan communities and local members of parliaments have renewed their opposition to two dams being built in Namtu and Nam Teng rivers in Shan State…


Governments Reflect on Key Elements of Peacebuilding, Sustaining Peace

Dec 11, 2018 | Catherine Benson Wahlén, International Institute for Sustainable Development

The UN Security Council discussed peacebuilding and sustaining peace in the context of post-conflict reconstruction, security and stability, in a debate on 5 December 2018.…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Hopeful about Replacing Opium Crops with Saffron

Dec 11, 2018 | Mohammad Sadiq Rashtinai and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara

At a sprawling government agricultural research farm in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, workers are now picking tiny purple flowers. Officials in the region…


South Sudan: South Sudan's Oil Suitors Still Skeptical over Security

Dec 11, 2018 | Ian Lewis, Petroleum Economist

An agreement under which South African state-controlled companies could invest as much as $1bn in South Sudanese energy projects, including a refinery, is welcome news…


Afghanistan: Armed Groups, MPs, Officials Involved in Illegal Mining: MEC

Dec 10, 2018 | Anisa Shaheed, TOLOnews

The Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) on Monday released its first report on extraction of mines in the country, in which it…


Afghanistan: Afghan Villagers Face Hunger as Fighting Cuts Northern Roads

Dec 10, 2018 | Matin Sahak, Reuters

Villagers in the northern Afghan province of Faryab have appealed to the government for help after being cut off from food supplies for weeks by…


Nigeria: The Ordinary People Keeping the Peace in Nigeria’s Deadly Land Feuds

Dec 10, 2018 | Max Bearak, Washington Post

Nigeria’s population has grown exponentially and is projected to surpass the United States’ by 2050, although Nigeria is 11 times smaller in area than the…


Liberia: “Data Is a Serious Problem for Agriculture Sector”

Dec 10, 2018 | David A. Yates, Observer

Agriculture Minister Dr. Mogana Flomo says the lack of agriculture data remains a serious challenge to the sector, “because  data collection is a serious problem…


DRC: This Congo Project Could Supply the World with Lithium

Dec 10, 2018 | Frik Els, Mining.com

Manono project became the world’s largest non-brine lithium resource after the Perth-based company released the maiden estimate for its 60%-owned project in the southern Congo…


Colombia: Miners Operating in Colombia Accused of Forcing People off Their Land

Dec 9, 2018 | Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, Mining.com

Colombian Forjando Futuros foundation issued a report accusing 33 companies and 150 individuals, both foreign and Colombian, of forcing people living in rural communities off…


Afghanistan: 'Worst Drought I Have Seen': Afghan Farmers Forced to Flee

Dec 7, 2018 | Phys.org

Wheat and opium farmer Murad Khan Ishaqzai, 80, has never seen a drought as bad as the one ravaging western Afghanistan where more than 250,000…