Following the fall of Kabul in August, the first face-to-face meeting between US officials and the Taliban took place last week. As is typical in such first encounters, both sides came with their respective agendas, including demands and requests of the other side. The one issue on which both...
In mid-November, Washington threatened to list the Iran-linked Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization. The announcement stirred instant condemnation from international aid agencies but was praised by officials of the legitimate government of Yemen and other Houthi opponents. Falling...
Amid spiking violence and displacement, life in the Democratic Republic of Congo today is nothing short of nightmarish. The numbers may help show the scale: renewed violence in the northeastern part of the country killed more than 1,300 and displaced more than 660,000 Congolese from their homes so...
The COVID-19 pandemic has been labeled a children’s disaster, with particular concern being placed on the protection of minors. In this crisis, as with other crises and disasters, children have paid a high price, with tens of millions of them affected by the lockdowns caused by the...
We may not like what President Donald Trump is saying about the World Health Organization (WHO), China and the world at large. In fact, we do not like it at all, but Trump has a point, and acknowledging it would empower us to address him in earnest, with honesty and efficiency. The world is led...
With border closures, supply chain interruptions and loss of income due to lockdowns caused by COVID-19, the number of people facing acute hunger around the world is estimated to rise from 135 million to 265 million this year. This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where before the...
The news on May 14 that two Rohingya refugees have tested positive for the coronavirus in the densely-populated camps in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, is chilling for those who have been drawing attention to the vulnerability of refugees and other displaced people to the COVID-19 pandemic. It...
March 25 marked the fifth anniversary since a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states, with direct support from the US, launched its campaign of airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The air campaign has gone hand-in-hand with an effort by Saudi and Yemeni forces opposing the Houthis to regain...
Malawi is one of the most impoverished nations on the planet. It is experiencing what officials describe as a “population explosion” in a society with inadequate resources. As of 2018, Malawi is the third poorest country in the world with a GDP per capita of only $342, according to the...
