insert_link Africa Sudan warring sides using starvation as weapon: UN experts Both sides in Sudan's brutal civil war are using starvation as a weapon of war, UN experts said Wednesday, charging that foreign governments providing them military support were "complicit" in war crimes. War has raged for more than a year between the regular military (SAF) under army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. […] todayJune 26, 2024 4
insert_link Africa Iran’s intervention in Sudan’s civil war advances its geopolitical goals − but not without risks Members of the Sudanese Armed Forces on Aug. 14, 2023. AFP via Getty Images By Eric Lob, Florida International University Iran’s role in funding and arming proxy groups in the Middle East has been well documented and has gotten extra attention since the Hamas-led attack in Israel in October 2023. Similarly, Tehran’s arms shipments to Russia are well known and have prompted complaints and sanctions from the West. But […] todayMay 29, 2024 20
insert_link Africa Sudan’s descent into chaos sets stage for al-Qaida to make a return to historic stronghold By Sara Harmouch, American University “Sudan’s moment has come; chaos is our chance to sow the seeds of jihad,” warned Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani, a high-ranking al-Qaida leader, in an October 2022 manifesto. His words may have seemed premature at the time, but a year of brutal civil war has now plunged Sudan into the kind of chaos in which terrorist groups thrive. The risk of […] todayMay 14, 2024 9
insert_link Africa M23 seizes key mining town in the DRC A town at the heart of mining coltan, a key ingredient in making mobile phones, has been seized in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by rebel forces, their spokesperson Willy Ngoma has said. The BBC reports that Rubaya fell into the hands of M23 fighters on Tuesday following heavy clashes with government troops. The DRC’s government has not yet commented, but a civil society activist confirmed that M23 had captured […] todayMay 2, 2024 4
insert_link Africa Sudan’s civil war is rooted in its historical favouritism of Arab and Islamic identity By Hamdy A. Hassan, Zayed University The current civil war in Sudan goes beyond a simple power struggle between two generals. It reflects a deep-rooted crisis within the country’s governing structure that’s been present since it gained independence from the British in 1956. Since independence, the Sudanese have experienced 35 coups and attempted coups, more than any other African country. In the country’s southern region a 56-year […] todayApril 29, 2024 3
insert_link South Africa How the Mandela myth helped win the battle for democracy in South Africa By Jonny Steinberg, Yale University Political history scholar Jonny Steinberg’s 2023 book Winnie & Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage is a double biography of South Africa’s most famous political figures – Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela Mandela – and their role in the country’s struggle for democracy. It’s also a book that shatters countless myths about the couple and the liberation struggle that have been formed in popular […] todayApril 29, 2024 12
insert_link World How Haiti became a failed state By Nicolas Forsans, University of Essex The US military started airlifting embassy staff out of Haiti overnight as the Caribbean island descends further into chaos. Rival gangs have joined forces to overrun the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in an attempt to force the resignation of the acting president, Ariel Henry. The gang leader behind the violence, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, has warned there will be a “civil war that […] todayMarch 11, 2024 18
insert_link 2 Africa Sudan facing a ‘hunger catastrophe,’ aid workers warn As the civil war in Sudan enters its tenth month, aid workers in the region say the conflict has been forgotten by the outside world. People continue to flee the conflict in the millions to avoid the violence, and now aid workers are warning that widespread famine is next. todayFebruary 27, 2024 5 2
insert_link Africa Ethiopia’s peace pacts with the Oromo Liberation Front have failed: here’s what was missing By Marew Abebe Salemot, Debark University Two attempts have been made over the past six years to broker peace between the Ethiopian government and the armed rebel group Oromo Liberation Front. The armed group was formed half a century ago with the goal of carving out an independent state for Oromia, the country’s largest regional state. Both attempts at brokering peace – in 2018 and again in […] todayFebruary 22, 2024 4
Paying it forward: Kenyan coastal doctor Bashrahil Mohammed Mafudh has made it his life’s work to care for the most vulnerable in his community, at no cost.
