| FOOD: Decoding food security |
 | JOHANNESBURG، 30/11/2012 (IRIN) - Most of the world consumes bread, the cost of which has spiralled this year thanks to climatic shocks, worsening food security for millions. But a significant scientific breakthrough could see the development of extreme-climate -tolerant and disease- resistant varieties of wheat much sooner than previously possible. full report |
| In Brief: One-stop site for climate change & food facts |
 | JOHANNESBURG، 30/11/2012 (IRIN) - About one-third of food produced for human consumption gets lost or is wasted globally. This amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year, the equivalent of six to 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions generated by human beings. This and many more quick facts on the links between agriculture and climate change can be found in a set of “Big Facts” released on 30 November by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. full report |
| HEALTH: Predicting the next zoonotic pandemic |
 | LONDON، 30/11/2012 (IRIN) - Chances are high the world’s next pandemic will be a disease originating in animals, like 60 percent of current documented human infectious diseases. Even after hundreds of thousands of human deaths from zoonoses (diseases transmitted from animals to humans), experts say there is still limited information about how zoonoses are spread or just how to predict the next outbreak. full report |
| SYRIA: UN shrinks staff and movement amid insecurity |
 | DAMASCUS، 3/12/2012 (IRIN) - UN agencies in Syria are relocating and restricting movement of staff due to rising insecurity that is getting closer to the capital. full report |
| CLIMATE CHANGE: Dealing with loss and damage |
 | DOHA، 3/12/2012 (IRIN) - In a formal letter to Qatar - host of the 18th conference of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a coalition of 40 NGOs, backed by academics, has called for urgent action on loss and damage caused by climate change. The NGOs have drawn up a framework to help country negotiators address the contentious issue. full report |
| Analysis: When lack of early warning becomes manslaughter |
 | BANGKOK، 4/12/2012 (IRIN) - The recent conviction in Italy of seismologists on manslaughter charges, based on their failure to warn residents about a 2009 earthquake, could have serious repercussions for earthquake preparedness, experts say. full report |
| CLIMATE CHANGE: Agriculture takes a backseat again |
 | DOHA، 5/12/2012 (IRIN) - Discussions about much-needed support for agriculture - which is seen both as a victim and a cause of climate change - at the UN’s climate change conference in Doha have been postponed until next year. full report |
| CLIMATE CHANGE: In the Arab world, building fridges to live in an oven |
 | DOHA، 5/12/2012 (IRIN) - In the last three decades, 50 million people in the Arab world have been affected by natural disasters, many of them extreme climate events, according to a new report by the World Bank. The report projects the horrific scenario of temperatures regularly rising to over 50 degrees Celsius by the turn of the century, which experts fear could lead to countless more disasters. full report |
| Adel Aklin – Teacher, Yemen |
 | SANA’A، 6/12/2012 (IRIN) - Adel Aklin, 48, an Arabic teacher in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, has seen his income fall because of the dearth of foreigners who have been scared away by ongoing insecurity in the strife-torn country. full report |
| YEMEN: Ali Abdullah al-Moudai – Community liaison officer, Yemen |
 | THULA، 6/12/2012 (IRIN) - Ali Abdullah al-Moudai, 28, from the village of Thula, about an hour’s drive from Yemen’s capital Sana’a, is lucky enough to have a reasonably well-paid job. The downside is that as the sole breadwinner in his 14-member household he has nothing left at the end of the month. full report |
| YEMEN: Wind and solar energy fall short of potential |
 | SANA’A، 6/12/2012 (IRIN) - Thirteen years ago electronics retailer Abdulmajeed al-Wahbani was one of the first people in Yemen to venture into the solar power business. So far the gamble has paid off. full report |
| SYRIA: Ten days in Damascus |
 | DAMASCUS، 6/12/2012 (IRIN) - IRIN reporter Heba Aly recently travelled to the Syrian capital, Damascus, to report on the humanitarian impact of nearly two years of conflict in the country. She filed this personal account of her time there. full report |