By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 25 February 2026 (IDN) — Eleven hundred years ago, Europe was a backwater. There were no grand cities, apart from Cordoba in Spain, which was Muslim. The Middle East was much further ahead, still absorbing the intellectual delights and challenges of Greek science, medicine, and architecture, while Europeans were […]
Africa Is Not a Chessboard
Those who recognize this will help shape the future By Ramesh Jaura This article first appeared on rjaura.substack.com BERLIN | 24 February 2026 (WorldView) — From a European vantage point, with transatlantic ties on shaky ground, the recent African Union Summit in Addis Ababa felt less like a formal gathering and more like a seismic […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Tensions at the Chad-Sudan border
Situation in Sudan (per 23 February) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have captured the city of Al-Tina near the Chad border this Saturday in a message posted on social media accompanied by video footage showing armed men celebrating. However, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Joint Force state they quickly recaptured the […]
Escape, extradition and trial: the case of human trafficker Kidane
The Dutch trial against Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam, an alleged notorious Eritrean human trafficker, will commence on 31 March. Kidane will face charges of various severe human rights abuses, including the rape, torture, murder and ransoming of refugees in closed compounds in Libya. The Walid case: an important precedent Kidane’s trial follows the recent Walid judgement, […]
FIJI: As Sugar Industry Declines, Vanua Levu Is poised for Ecotourism-led Transformation
By Riya Bhagawan* MACUATA, Fiji | 23 February 2026 (IDN/Wansolwara) — Long seen as a quiet, small, and tranquil town nestled among lush mountains with a simple, peaceful lifestyle, Macuata is now rapidly evolving and positioning itself as a centre of attraction in Fiji’s second largest island of Vanua Levu with a population of 160,000. […]
Implications of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Parliamentary Supermajority
Resurrection of Bushidō into a tool for Japanese ultra-nationalism & military expansionism? By Purnaka L. de Silva* NEW YORK | 22 February 2026 (IDN) — Japan’s acquisition of a parliamentary supermajority under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s landslide election victory marks a qualitative shift in the country’s political trajectory with significant implications for regional security, historical reconciliation, […]
Trump is Intent on Hijacking the Midterm Election
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 21 February 2026 (IDN) — Terrified by the likelihood of losing the Republican majority in the House and facing the prospect of impeachment, Trump is determined to steal the midterm election by any means, however menacing or unconstitutional they may be, to deprive the Democrats of their nearly assured […]
Iran Crisis Exposes the Impotence of America’s Neoliberal War Machine
By Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK | 20 February 2026 (IDN) — After some delays, the United States is dispatching a second aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, from the Caribbean to the Middle East to join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and threaten Iran. This is the third Atlantic crossing […]
Floods and Mudslides Prompt Sri Lanka To Move Communities From Mountain Slopes
By Benuka Senadheera* WELIMADA, Sri Lanka | 20 February 2026 (IDN) — Sri Lanka, it seemed, was well on the way to recovering from the economic crash of 2022, when Cyclone Ditwah hit the island at the end of November last year, resulting in devastating floods in all 25 districts of the country. The floods washed […]
Situation Report – Horn of Africa No. 705 – 19 February 2025
SITUATION REPORT – HORN OF AFRICA & NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
No. 705 – 19 February 2026