A study of eight decades of bargaining over senior UN posts raises questions about the independence of António Guterres’s successor. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 3 October 2026 (IDN) — The contest to succeed António Guterres as United Nations Secretary-General is gathering pace. Much of the public discussion centres on the candidates, their qualifications and […]
Gaza Shattered the Myth of the “Most Moral Army”
By Alon Ben-Meir* Israel’s claim that the IDF is “the most moral army in the world” did not survive Gaza. What emerged was not moral exceptionalism, but a machinery of devastation so vast that the slogan now stands as an indictment—of power without restraint and conscience without consequences NEW YORK | 3 October 2026 (IDN) […]
Asia, Africa and the Struggle for a New Global Order
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | NEW YORK | 3 October 2026 (IDN) — The 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations, brought world leaders and delegations to New York in late September 2026. Their speeches addressed political governance, economic development, conflicts, inequality, […]
The Third Man and the Ruins of Modernity
By Sam Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 2 October 2026 (IDN) — Carol Reed’s The Third Man, recently screened at the Park Theatre in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, is routinely described as one of the greatest films noirs ever made. It is certainly that. But to call it a film noir tells us remarkably little about what makes […]
A Council of Warnings in a World at War
From Ukraine and Myanmar to Haiti, the final days of September showed why the United Nations remains necessary and why its decisions so often fall short. By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK | 1 October 2026 (IDN) — The United Nations Security Council ended on 30 September with a record that was neither empty […]
EEPA reports on Afar governor accuses Eritrea of participation in fighting
BRUSSELS | 1 October 2026 (IDN | EEPA) — The following are the situation reports on the situation in Ethiopia and Tigray, the situation in Sudan, the international and regional situation, the migration and refugee situation, explosions in Addis Ababa, Afar governor accuses Eritrea of participation in fighting, 400 Sudanese crossing to Chad daily. Situation […]
America, the Threatened?
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 30 September 2026 (IDN) — The French ambassador to the US from 1902 to 1924, Jean-Jules Jusserand, observed that distant powers could not easily threaten the US because “On the north, she has a weak neighbour; on the south, another weak neighbour; on the east, fish and on the west, […]
Tigray’s Renewed Conflict: How Drone Warfare is Reshaping the Battlefield
By Daniel Tesfa, Shim Masha and Filmon Gebremikael Addis Ababa | Ethiopia | 30 September 2026 (IDN) — Drone warfare reshapes Ethiopia–Tigray’s battlefield, while civilians relive the devastation of past wars. From Pretoria to Renewed War The Pretoria Agreement of November 2022, formally known as the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), was intended to end […]
Russia Challenges South Africa’s Exclusion From G20 Summit
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | NEW YORK | 30 September 2026 (IDN) — At the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Russia’s objection to South Africa’s exclusion from the forthcoming G20 summit in the United States, while emphasising the importance of multilateral institutions and the place of […]
Censorship Regarding Genocide
By Jan Servaes BRUSSELS | 29 September 2026 (IDN) — During his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on 24 September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a visual aid. He displayed a pager resembling the devices used in the deadly pager attacks that Israel carried out in Lebanon in 2024. An […]