By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK, Thailand | 6 June 2025 (IDN) — The last week of May marked an important landmark in the shift in the global economy to the East when countries representing over 2 billion people and a combined economy of over US$ 25 trillion came together to chart a new path for a […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Attack on Sudan aid convoy kills 5
Situation in Sudan (per 5 June) An aid convoy delivering essential supplies to North Darfur was attacked on Monday night, resulting in the deaths of five humanitarian workers and injuring many others. The killed humanitarian staff were working for World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF as contractors. WFP, UNICEF and the broader international community condemned […]
Disaster Preparedness: Anew From the Ancient Old
By Yossef Ben-Meir* Marrakech, Morocco | 4 June 2025 (IDN) — The Kingdom of Morocco is taking the wise measure of building 36 storage facilities that will serve the people’s serious needs during severe crises, should they ever arise, such as with the horrifying 2023 earthquake in the High Atlas region. Ancient knowledge captured in […]
UK High Court Rules Torture for Ransom Is Human Trafficking Exploitation
Landmark Decision Expands Legal Protections for Victims of Transnational Crime By Jaya Ramachandran UK High Court Rules Torture for Ransom Is Human Trafficking Exploitation Landmark Decision Expands Legal Protections for Victims of Transnational Crime By Jaya Ramachandran LONDON | 4 June 2025 (IDN) — In a landmark judgment that could reshape how the United Kingdom […]
UN Calls for Probe as Food Convoy is Destroyed in North Sudan
By J. Nastranis NEW YORK | 4 June 2025 (IDN) — A United Nations humanitarian convoy en route to the famine-stricken city of El Fasher in North Darfur has been attacked and destroyed in the town of Al Koma, currently under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The assault left five people dead […]
Goodbye to the Iranian Nuclear Bomb?
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 4 June 2025 (IDN) — Is it agreement time in Iran? Is Iran going to bend to the will of the UN Security Council and engineer a compromise that will allow it to enrich uranium—but only to a small degree—in return for allowing the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency […]
An Era of Extreme Heat: Teleconnections of Glacial Risks from the Arctic to the Third Pole
By Elena Pronina, Consultant, ESCAP; Dr. Valentina Khan, Executive Director of North Eurasia Climate Centre, RosHydroMet; Dr Oksana Lipka, Deputy Director, Yu. A. Izrael Institute of Global Climate and Ecology; Leila Salarpour Goodarzi, Associate Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP; Sanjay Srivastava, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction, ESCAP BANGKOK, Thailand | 3 June 2025 (IDN) — As […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Sudanese government dissolved
Situation in Sudan (per 2 June) Kamil Idris was sworn in as Sudan’s new prime minister on Saturday. His informal predecessor was Dafallah Al-Haj Yousif, Sudan’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Idris is the first prime minister since the coup in 2021. Idris announced the dissolution of the Sudanese caretaker government on Sunday. It was […]
Tariff Turmoil: Overreliance on Distribution Instead of Growth
By Jayasri Priyalal* SINGAPORE | 2 June 2025 (IDN) — The unilateral declaration of reciprocal tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump on trading partner countries has unfolded myriad uncertainties heightening the geopolitical and economic tensions. Immediate reactions were reflected in the global stock markets trading on negative levels. The full repercussions will be known in […]
The United Nations Confronts a Crisis Necessitating Thorough Reforms
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 30 May 2025 (IDN) — Is the UN salvageable, or is it doomed to irrelevance and perhaps even a complete collapse? The drastic cuts imposed by the United States on development cooperation following the closure of USAID, combined with a significantly weaker appetite among many traditional donors for international […]