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 […]
Haiti Situation Report: Haiti blackout ends after security promises
Situation in Haiti Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas were plunged into a blackout for 10 days from 13 May due to sabotage at the Péligre hydroelectric plant, Haiti’s main power source. The shutdown was reportedly carried out by civil society associations from Mirebalais and Saut d’Eau protesting gang violence. Fritz Alphonse Jean met on 23 May […]
Inside the Oval Office, Trump’s new Lair
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and the author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA, Nigeria | 27 May 2025 (IDN) — The world has never been short of demagogues and fools, but the remedies have often matched the supply. In 1990, during President Nelson Mandela’s […]
Russia Seeks to Rebuild Relations with Africa After Years of Disengagement
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | 26 May 2025 (IDN) — Tatiana Dovgalenko, Director of the African Partnership Department at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, praised policy achievements and reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to supporting Africa’s economic transformation in her mid-May interview report for Africa Day on 25 May. She also emphasized Russia’s dedication to increasing investment guarantees […]
Can Trump Break the Iran Deadlock and Reshape the Middle East?
By Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK | 23 May 2025 (IDN) — The Trump administration’s pursuit of a negotiated agreement over Iran’s nuclear program is the only sound policy that can prevent a regional conflagration. Beyond that, it offers a unique opportunity that can change the regional security trajectory and potentially usher in long-term peace and […]
Trump’s Hostility Towards China
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 20 May 2025 (IDN) — President Donald Trump’s antagonism towards China existed before the Coronavirus. Despite his bonhomie with President Jinping Xi whenever he meets him, he has gone all out with his trade war. He refuses to negotiate an extension of the nuclear weapons reduction agreement with Russia […]
Haiti Situation Report: Gran Grif attack kills 50 in Petite-Rivière
Situation in Haiti The Gran Grif gang launched a new wave of attacks on Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite on 30 April, following an earlier assault on 28 April. Residents fled across the Artibonite River to escape the violence. At least 50 people were killed, 60 others were injured, and 20 houses were set on fire. The […]
Low Birth Rates and Rising Deaths: What Else Could Reverse Russia’s Declining Population
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | 12 May 2025 (IDN) — How vital is Thomas Malthus’ population theory today? Malthus, an English cleric and scholar, published this theory in his 1798 writings, An Essay on the Principle of Population. He believed that exponential population growth could lead to unprecedented pressure on the land and create […]
Burkina Faso Forging Stronger Partnership with Russia
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, 11 May 2025 (IDN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Burkina Faso counterpart, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, have agreed to step up efforts to combat growing extremism and terrorism, which is widespread across the Sahel region, an elongated landlocked territory located between North Africa (Maghreb) and West Africa. The cooperation […]
India vs Pakistan, Two Nuclear Powers, in a Potentially Explosive Confrontation
By Thalif Deen* NEW YORK | 9 May 2025 (IDN) — Will the rising military tension between two of the world’s heavily-armed nuclear powers –India and Pakistan—lead to a full-scale war? The guessing game is on. The two South Asian countries have long remained locked in a bitter confrontation, mostly over the disputed territory of […]