MUZAFFARPUR, India — Looking out over gray waters that have drowned the rice paddies that are his livelihood, laborer Bhavat Nagar swore no flood he could recall came close to the size of the latest monsoon deluge that also washed away most of his village and a neighbor’s child. “This is the worst it has been,” he said, shaking his head. “We always lose a little, but now we have lost everything. I don’t know what to do.” This reaction was replayed by dozens of landless poor in northern Bihar state, the region worst-hit by this year’s South Asia floods. […]

KAMPALA, Uganda — Northern Uganda has been mired in violent conflict for over 20 years. And though it rarely receives as many headlines as nearby fighting in Darfur, Somalia, or even Eastern Congo, the war in Northern Uganda, one of Africa’s longest running conflicts and humanitarian disasters, is inching toward a possible resolution. In Juba, Southern Sudan, negotiators from the government of Uganda and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) recently signed the third phase of a five-part peace agreement. The progress is important, but the government of Uganda and its Western sponsors still have much to answer for. Even […]