By Dr George Chaponda The writer is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Malawi. LILONGWE, Malawi | 1 July 2026 (IDN) — When Malawi became the first landlocked country to ratify the BBNJ Agreement, we affirmed a simple but powerful principle: stewardship of the global commons is a shared responsibility, not a […]
Whither the Law of the Sea?
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 1 July 2026 (IDN) — David Attenborough said in his wondrous documentary film, Ocean, that it had taken him a long time in his 99 years of life to understand that for the survival of our planet the oceans are more important than the land. This past four months, as […]
The US Occupation of the Indian Ocean ‘Zone of Peace’, the Next UNSG and the World’s First Woman Head of State
By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 30 June 2026 (IDN) — America’s war of choice on Iran has spread across the Indian Ocean World and maritime Silk Route. Starved of oil and gas, South and Southeast Asia’s emerging economies have seen their local currencies fall against the ‘exorbitantly privileged’ Petrodollar as public and private […]
The Ceasefire in Gaza: A Deadly Illusion
By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK | 30 June 2026 (IDN) — The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has described the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza as a “cruel and deadly illusion” as Israel continues to attack the besieged enclave. “During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every […]
EEPA reports on Heavy fighting in North Darfur
BRUSSELS | 29 June 2026 (IDN | EEPA) — The following are the situation reports on Sudan, Ethiopia, the EU visa restrictions on Somali nationals and Kenyan Human Rights Lawyer, Martha Karua, arrested and deported upon arrival in Entebbe on 22 June. Situation in Sudan (per 29 June) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have launched […]
Food Security in Mozambique Begins with Empowered Coastal Communities
By Dr Atanasio Brito* MAPUTO, Mozambique | 28 June 2026 (IDN) — Mozambique’s Indian Ocean coastline is 1,500 miles (2,470 kilometres)—as long as the combined coastlines of France and Spain. With three out of five Mozambicans living near the water, fish and fishing play a central role in our diets and incomes—fish supplies 50% of […]
From a Respected Hegemon to a Drifting Power
As midterm campaigns accelerate and disillusionment with Trump’s domestic and foreign policies widens, a stark scenario emerges: America faces a perilous inflection point demanding immediate action before democratic erosion becomes irreversibleBy Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 28 June 2ß26 (IDN) — Donald Trump did not invent America’s vulnerabilities, but he has driven them to a breaking point. […]
The International Legal Order is Broken: 2 Key Shifts Needed to Fix it
By Danny Bradlow* JOHANNESBURG, South Africa | 27 June 2026 (IDN) — The international legal order that was created after the Second World War is no longer fit for purpose. Its response to urgent global problems such as climate change, poverty, and pandemics is inadequate. Its key institutions, like the United Nations, are incapable of […]
Recognition Without Redemption: La Strada, Seventy Years On
By Sam Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 26 June 2026 (IDN) — Seventy years after its release, La Strada (1956) remains among the most unsettling achievements in the history of cinema. Its endurance has little to do with nostalgia, neorealist pedigree, or even the magnetism of Giulietta Masina’s performance—though all of these matter. What gives the […]
Until Every Child is in School, No One is Truly Safe
By Mohamud Hure* DOHA, Qatar | 26 June 2026 (IDN) — The morning war arrives, a child learns a different kind of lesson: which road is safe, which silence means run, how much can be carried and what must be left behind. Somewhere in Sudan or eastern Congo this year, a girl folded that knowledge […]