By Katinka Weinberger and Mizuho Okimoto-Kaewtathip* BANGKOK | 23 October 2026 (IDN) — Eradicating poverty in all its forms is one of the most pressing development challenges across Asia and the Pacific. While the region has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty over recent decades, multiple and overlapping crises have exposed the fragility of these achievements […]
Hunger Amid Plenty Is a Political Failure, UN Rights Chief Warns
The world produces more than enough food, yet conflict, inequality, waste and the concentration of farmland leave billions without an adequate diet. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 20 October 2026 (IDN) — The world’s farms produce more food than ever before. The average global supply now exceeds 3,000 calories per person a day. Yet more than […]
Germany’s Colonial Reckoning Returns to the Bundestag
Debate over the genocide committed in Namibia has revived questions about recognition, reparations and whether Germany is willing to confront its colonial past as seriously as other chapters of its history. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 20 October 2026 (IDN) — Over a century after German colonial troops committed mass killings in what is now […]
Regional Trade and Economic Strategy Draw Asia and Africa Closer to BRICS
By Professor Maurice Okoli, Ph.D* This article was first published in Eurasia Review. MOSCOW | 17 October 2026 (IDN) — Perhaps, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), with the new members and partner states, summit in New Delhi, from 11 September to 13, produced a new round of significant declarations, adapting its collective […]
UN Experts Warn FAO Against Sidelining Human Rights
By Jaya Ramachandran Independent UN experts say the right to food and international humanitarian law must remain central to FAO’s work, warning that staff should not face reprisals for documenting starvation and famine in Gaza. GENEVA | 14 October 2026 (IDN) — A group of United Nations human rights experts has called on the Food […]
A Nobel for Justice as Washington Moves Against the World Court
Navi Pillay’s Peace Prize and sweeping US sanctions on the International Criminal Court place two opposing views of international law before the world. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | THE HAGUE 13 October 2026 (IDN) — On the same day that the United States announced sanctions against the International Criminal Court as an institution, the Norwegian […]
“Is being Tigrayan a curse in Ethiopia?” Arbitrary arrests in Addis Abeba amid renewed war
By Daniel Tesfa, Filmon Gebremikael and Mirjam van Reisen ADDIS ABEBA | Ethiopia | 12 October 2026 (IDN) – On 21 September 2026, police detained dozens of Tigrayans in Addis Abeba without charge. Among them was Haile Kiros*, who recalls being denied food and even the dignity of using a bathroom regularly. “They don’t treat […]
Two African Wars Put Civilians—and the UN’s Authority—at Risk
Ethiopia and Eritrea trade accusations before the Security Council as another deadly strike hits displaced families in Sudan. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | ADDIS ABABA | KHARTOUM (IDN) — Wars in Ethiopia and Sudan are testing how far the United Nations can act when appeals for restraint are ignored. Ethiopia and Eritrea have carried their […]
Choosing the UN Chief: The Deals Behind Closed Doors
A study of eight decades of bargaining over senior UN posts raises questions about the independence of António Guterres’s successor. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 3 October 2026 (IDN) — The contest to succeed António Guterres as United Nations Secretary-General is gathering pace. Much of the public discussion centres on the candidates, their qualifications and […]
Tigray’s Renewed Conflict: How Drone Warfare is Reshaping the Battlefield
By Daniel Tesfa, Shim Masha and Filmon Gebremikael Addis Ababa | Ethiopia | 30 September 2026 (IDN) — Drone warfare reshapes Ethiopia–Tigray’s battlefield, while civilians relive the devastation of past wars. From Pretoria to Renewed War The Pretoria Agreement of November 2022, formally known as the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), was intended to end […]