Situation in Haiti Haiti declared a three-month state of emergency on 9 August in the West, Artibonite, and Center departments to counter escalating gang violence and its impact on food production. Two Haitian National Police (PNH) officers were killed in Kenscoff when their armored vehicle got stuck in a ditch dug by gangs and were […]
The Need to Forge a Plan B & Plan C for a Plastic Pollution Treaty
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 19 August 2025 (IDN) — As of 15 August, those hoping for a strong binding plastic pollution treaty were hugely disappointed by the outcome that emerged from Geneva, where the previous round of intergovernmental negotiations, formally known as INC. 5.2 took place from August 5-14, 2025. Nevertheless, for a […]
US-Russia Talks: The Choice Between Pursuing Peace and Escalation
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK | 17 August 2025 (IDN) — Donald Trump came into office promising to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Now, six months later, his high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska may have put the United States and Russia on a new path […]
Sudan: Sexual Violence and Economic Collapse Are Devastating the Nation
This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ BERLIN | 16 August 2025 (IDN) — In Sudan, the war is fought not only with bullets and bombs, but on the bodies of women and in the fragile machinery of the economy. Since April 2023, a brutal conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese […]
Nigeria’s Oil Industry and Its Administrators
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 | 14 August 2025 (IDN) — The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is an animal that eats its curator for lunch. To survive it, either do not get close […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Secret Sudan-US talks in Switzerland
Situation in Sudan (per 14 August) At least 40 people have been killed in an attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Abou Shouk displacement camp close to El Fasher, North Darfur, on Monday, states the Abu Shouk Emergency Response Room. Civilians were shot in their homes and in public. The Yale Humanitarian Research […]
Karapetyan’s Case Crucial for Armenia’s future
By Benoit Lannoo* YEREVAN, Armenia | 14 August 2025 (IDN) — Today at 5:30 PM local time, an Armenian anti-corruption Court in Yerevan will decide on a petition of the General Prosecutor of the country to prolong the detention of Mr. Samvel Karapetyan. Last Monday, the Armenian Court of Criminal Appeals already decided that Mr. […]
Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council: “Engage to Disengage”
By A.L.A. Azeez* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 14 August 2025 (IDN) — Time is ticking off. And it is ticking off on Sri Lanka’s human rights and accountability front, in Geneva. In less than a month from today, the question of promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka will come up for consideration […]
How to Empower Youths? Give Them the Key to Decision Making
By Simone Galimberti* International Youth Day is an awareness day designated by the United Nations on 12 August. The purpose of the day is to draw attention to specific cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. The first IYD was observed on 12 August 2000. KATHMANDU, Nepal | 13 August 2025, (IDN) — This year’s International […]
Israel Keeps on Going the Wrong Way
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 12 August 2025 (IDN) — Recall Shakespeare’s great work of dramatic art, The Merchant of Venice, where Shylock was treated as an unpleasant Jew (with a lovely, self-effacing daughter) who dealt mainly in shady usury. His speech to the court is one of Shakespeare’s most remembered: “Hath not a […]