The UN’s failure and the rise of the Board of Peace By Ramesh Jaura* This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/p/when-the-centre-no-longer-holds BERLIN | 29 January 2026 (IDN) — As the Canadian prime minister concluded his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 20 January 2026, the applause lingered, stretching just beyond the ordinary. […]
Sudan’s Civil War Is the Normalisation of Atrocity
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 29 January 2026 (IDN) — The horror of the Sudanese civil war is not exhausted by the enumeration of its atrocities. However, those alone are staggering: mass killings, ethnic cleansing, systematic rape, the razing of villages, famine used as a weapon, and the deliberate destruction of the conditions of […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Fears of escalation as ENDF and TDF clash in Tigray
Situation in Ethiopia (per 29 January) The Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) reportedly clashed in Tselemti, western Tigray. The clashes started several days ago and the current situation is unclear. There are reports of military movements in southern Tigray. All flights between Addis Ababa and Tigray have been cancelled. This […]
U.S. Dual-Edged Approach of Military Posturing and Diplomatic Signals to Tehran
By Syafruddin Arsyad* JAKARTA | 28 January 2026 (IDN) — As United States naval forces assemble in the Gulf while Washington simultaneously signals openness to dialogue with Tehran, the U.S. appears to be pursuing a carefully calibrated—but inherently risky—strategy. By pairing visible military pressure with diplomatic outreach, Washington seeks to coerce Iran into concessions without […]
Violent Eritrean smuggler Walid gets maximum sentence of 20 years in Dutch court
On 27 January 2026, the Dutch court in Zwolle delivered a significant verdict in the case against a suspect known as Walid, or Tewelde Goitom, convicting him on nearly all charges related to widespread human rights abuses against refugees in Libya. The court, in a comprehensive ruling totaling around 100 pages, sentenced Walid to the […]
How Rushtrek Tours Is Redefining the Tanzanian Travel Experience
By Kizito Makoye and Adam Ihucha DAR ES SALAAM / ARUSHA, Tanzania | 27 January 2026 (IDN) — The moment tourists arrive in Tarangire National Park, in Tanzania’s northern Arusha region, they see a breathtaking scene of a giant elephant curling up its trunk into the earth, leaving a plume of red dust wafting into […]
Situation Report Special: Cruel Eritrean smuggler Walid gets the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison
Walid hearing verdict (per 27 January 2026) The judges in the Dutch court in Zwolle found the suspect in the ‘Walid’ case guilty of almost all charges and sentenced him to the maximum of 20 years in prison. The full verdict comprises around 100 pages. The judge presented the main points of the verdict during […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Alarm at inflammatory rhetoric in South Sudan
Situation in Sudan (per 26 January) Two civilians have been killed by a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) suicide drone strike on the besieged city of Dilling, South Kordofan state, reported The Sudan Doctors Network on Sunday. The network accused the RSF and allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), of ongoing deliberate attacks on unarmed civilians […]
FROM BETHLEHEM – A View of Misthought Israeli History
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 26 January 2026 (IDN) — Perhaps the biggest single misthink in Western history is best understood by standing in the town square of Bethlehem, allowing one’s gaze to pass over the rooftop of the Church that covers the stable where Jesus was supposedly born, and letting one’s eye drift […]
Africa’s Healers Are Not Primitive—Our Thinking Is
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | 26 January 2026 (IDN) — A popular health science book titled “Traditional African medicine” represents the latest direction in interdisciplinary studies of African culture. This book, authored by Dr Lyuba Ivanova, Senior Researcher at the Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), is primarily a historical study […]