Situation in Sudan (per 29 September) The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allies regained control of Umm Sumaima in North Kordofan, which lies along the main road to West Kordofan and Darfur. Renewed fighting between SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) started on Friday and continued through Saturday. RSF is fighting back intensely to […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Drone strike by RSF kills over 75
Situation in Sudan (per 25 September) A drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces on a mosque during dawn prayers in El Fasher, North Darfur, on Friday morning killed over 75 civilians, according to the El Fasher Resistance Committee. The strike hit the Masjid al-Safiya in the neighbourhood of Safiya on the western side of […]
Breathing Life into the Corpse of Palestine
By Dr. James E. Jennings ATLANTA, USA | 24 September 2025 (IDN) — The barely viable Two-State Solution appears to have made a brief comeback at the United Nations General Assembly. Emmanuel Macron of France and Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine—one young, one old—huffed and puffed in the attempt to put new life into a near-dead […]
Advocating Increased Taxation on Tobacco and Nicotine Products
Reducing Consumption Among Young People in Kenya By Whitney Atieno The writer is a Kamukunji Youth and Tobacco Control Advocate. NAIROBI | 23 September 2025 (IDN) — Tobacco consumption is a significant public health issue in Kenya, causing approximately 12,000 deaths annually and contributing to various cancers and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). According to the […]
Shades of Collective Self-Defence in the Context of Saudi-Pakistan Agreement
By A.L.A. Azeez* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 21 September 2025 (IDN) — What does it entail when two states enter into a mutual defence pact? What if one of them is a nuclear-armed state, not party to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the other an NPT state, not possessing nuclear weapons? That’s exactly the scenario […]
Transforming Cross-Border Connectivity in Eastern South Asia
By Joseph George, Mikiko Tanaka and Rajan Ratna* Small steps of digitalization of trade and transport processes are shaping the foundations for seamless, cost-effective and collaborative cross-border connectivity in the subregion, promising big leaps in trade integration, efficiency and competitiveness. BANGKOK, Thailand | 20 September 2025 (IDN) — In Eastern South Asia (ESA)—comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, […]
Suspending US-Kosovo Dialogue — A Rude Awakening for Kurti
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 19 September 2025 (IDN) — Although Trump does not necessarily follow logical and practical foreign policy to frame US relations with other countries, his decision to suspend the US-Kosovo dialogue was not entirely misguided. Prime Minister Kurti has failed to demonstrate statesmanship in steering the country in the right […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Over 100 Sudanese refugees die in shipwrecks
Situation in Sudan (per 18 September) At least 18 people were killed and 14 kidnapped by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in an attack on El Fasher, North Darfur, on Tuesday. This happened during violent clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The death toll only accounts for those brought to the […]
Palestine: Recognition Without Action is Meaningless
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 […]