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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
EU Parliament Holds Film Screening and Panel Discussion in Honour of Imprisoned Eritrean Journalist Dawit Isaak
BRUSSELS | 27 May 2025 (IDN) — The European Parliament paid tribute to Dawit Isaak, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist and 2009 and 2017 Sakharov Prize finalist with a powerful event spotlighting his story and the ongoing fight for press freedom. Dawit Isaak has been imprisoned in Eritrea along with 11 Eritrean colleagues since 2001 without trial, […]
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 […]