By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 16 September 2025 (IDN) — During the upcoming UN General Assembly high-level meeting (September 22-30), several key European countries are expected to recognise a Palestinian state. The question that looms is how to translate such a significant development into reality, whereby the Palestinians will realise their national aspiration for […]
Human Rights Council’s Revived Harassment of Sri Lanka, Exposes Double Standards
By Kalinga Seneviratne Colombo | 17 September 2025 (IDN) – With the visit of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Commissioner Volker Turk to Sri Lanka in June and his subsequent report to the 60th session of the UNHRC presented on September 8th, the UN human rights body has revived its 16 year […]
The End Game in Sri Lankan Politics
By Neville de Silva* LONDON | 17 September 2025 (IDN) — Two years ago, in September, a comparatively little-known politician did what many of Sri Lanka’s 22 million people did not expect him to do. He won the country’s presidential election, rising from virtually nowhere. Two months later, he made history. Leading his loosely knit […]
Saving the Emerald Forest
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 16 September 2025 (IDN) — Belem is the Brazilian city at the mouth of the Amazon. Unlike its slummy counterpart, Kinshasa, at the mouth of the Congo, it is full of resplendent streets with beautiful nineteenth-century houses. It has squares and marketplaces filled with cafes, fountains, and life. In […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: UN Security Council extends sanctions on Sudan
Situation in Sudan (per 15 September) The UN Security Council (UN SC) has extended sanctions on Sudan for another year, maintaining an arms embargo and targeted sanctions while also prolonging the oversight of a UN Panel of Experts until October 2026. Disagreements emerged among UN SC members, primarily US and European allies, advocating for stronger […]
Madness on Steroids in Gaza
By James E. Jennings* ATLANTA, USA |13 September 2025 (IDN) — Israel has announced its intention to forcibly drive from one to two million people from their homes in Gaza city to make room for Israeli settlements, military bases, or glitzy casinos, or whatever else comes to mind. Besides being inhumane, it amounts to insanity. […]
Trump’s Geoeconomics and Africa’s Fork in the Road
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW | 12 September 2025 (IDN) — When Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year, observers braced for another bout of upheaval in U.S. foreign policy. But what’s unfolding isn’t merely a rerun of his first term. This time around, Trump is deploying geoeconomics—strategic use of economic tools—as […]
The Need for Non-Violence in Ukraine
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 9 September 2025 (IDN) — Is it too late to say non-violence would have served the Ukrainians better? Probably yes, although it shouldn’t be discounted. This war with Russia reminds me of 1968, when the Soviet Union sent its tanks into Budapest to overthrow a reforming (but still communist) […]
Cuba’s Economic Collapse: Inflation, Dollarisation, and a Nation at Breaking Point
By J. C. Suresh TORONTO | Havana | 8 September 2025 (IDN) — For decades, Cuba stood as one of the Caribbean’s most distinctive economies—heavily centralised, politically resilient, and symbolically influential across Latin America. Once a regional reference point for social programs and state-driven development, it now finds itself among the hemisphere’s weakest performers. The […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: UN peacekeepers in South Sudan ambushed by armed group
Situation in Sudan (per 8 September) Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have committed grave violations against civilians, including killing, arbitrary detention, torture and inhumane treatment, states a new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan to the UN Human Righst Council. According to the report findings, the RSF committed […]