In The News

ENS: Indigenous Peoples Own/Manage ¼ of Earth’s Land

Environment News Service August 3, 2018
Indigenous people own or have management rights over at least 25 percent of Earth’s land, which in turn overlaps with 40 percent of all protected lands, according to Stephen Garnett of Charles Darwin University who leads an international mapping research team. The team emphasizes that understanding land ownership is essential for developing and monitoring international conservation and climate...

The Diplomat: South China Sea Code of Conduct

Carl Thayer August 2, 2018
ASEAN foreign ministers and China have developed a draft negotiating text for code of conduct in the South China Sea. Singapore, as chairman of ASEAN for the upcoming year, led the effort. The draft will be the basis of future negotiations. Those negotiations have been underway since 1995. Points of disagreements since 2000 include geographic scope and construction restrictions. Carl Thayer,...

Mail & Guardian: New Zimbabwe Is Not So Different

Simon Allison August 2, 2018
The internatonal community had hoped the end of Robert Mugabe’s rule in Zimbabwe would introduce a period of stability and prosperity. After fighting for Zimbabwe’s independence, Mugabe was the country’s president from 1987 until November 2017 when he was forced to resign. The country failed to deliver a peaceful or credible election on July 30, reports Simon Allison for the Mail & Guardian,...

Reuters: New Activity at North Korean ICBM Factory

David Brunnstrom August 1, 2018
The US president met with North Korea’s leader in June to start talks on denuclearization talks and afterward said the poor, isolated nation no longer posed a threat. Intelligence agencies have since produced evidence suggesting otherwise. In late June, intelligence reports suggested North Korea was boosting fuel production for nuclear weapons. In July, US satellites detected activity at the...

Financial Times: Trump’s Deal and Palestinian Rights

Kofi Annan July 31, 2018
US presidents repeatedly try and fail to secure peace in the Middle East, and the United States remains “arguably the one country with decisive influence on both the Israelis and Palestinians,” writes Kofi Annan, former secretary-general for the United Nations. He reiterates a comment made by the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley that peace and security require attention to human rights, that...

Al Jazeera: Russia's Endgame in Syria

Marwan Kabalan July 31, 2018
Analysts can only conjecture what is in store for Syria, Ukraine and other parts of the world where Russia and the United States have an interest. The US and Russian presidents held a private summit and only the translators know what was really said. Syria was discussed. Both countries battled the Islamic State extremists, with Russia and Iran backing the Bashar al Assad regime and the United...

Guardian: Shocking Reality of Live Animal Exports

Borzou Daragahi July 30, 2018
Global demand for meat is on the rise and so is the long-distance trade in live farm animals. Horses, pigs, cows, sheep, donkeys, goats are raised in one part of the world with access to hay and other feed, then trucked or shipped to other countries for slaughter and processing. Long journeys and border delays are stressful. “Sometimes, the animals are left on the lorries for days, stuck inside...