By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK | 1 October 2025 (IDN) — Nearly two years into the genocidal war in Gaza, the international community has reached a turning point. With a historic genocide ruling from the UN, a sweeping diplomatic recognition of Palestinian statehood, and mounting pressure on Israel, world leaders are now acting with rare […]
A Serious Proposal: Russia and China Call for Global Strategic Stability
By Alice Slater* NEW YORK | 1 October 2025 (IDN) — It’s ironic that the arms control community is protesting the idea of resuming nuclear test detonations. The nuclear test detonations have never stopped. Although Bill Clinton signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, he swiftly funded the “Stockpile Stewardship” program at the […]
Operation Colombo: The Assassinations of Bandaranaike and Allende
What two Cold War killings reveal about empire and disinformation. By Darini Rajasingham Senanayake* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 1 October 2025 (IDN) — September marks anniversaries in the chilling deaths of two democratically elected Socialist heads of state during the United States’ led Cold War anti-communist crusade that unfolded across the world between 1948-91: The […]
The Hidden Toll of Maternal Mortality in Kenya
Reflections from Kenya’s high-level policy dialogue and civil society convening in Nairobi By Dr Margaret Lubaale and Lisa Mushega* Nairobi, Kenya | 30 September 2025 (IDN) — Behind every maternal death in Kenya is a family forever changed. Children lose their mothers, communities lose their leaders, and the country loses its potential. At a recent […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Drone strikes in Amhara
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, […]