Global Peace Index: Syria, Sudan and South Sudan top world’s list of less peaceful countries with horrific ‘forever wars’
South Sudan is the least peaceful country in the region, despite a small improvement in peacefulness over the past year. The number of deaths from internal conflict fell by 73 per cent, from 723 deaths in 2022 to 199 in 2023. Although the country recorded improvements on both the Militarisation and Ongoing Conflict domains, the security situation remains fraught. The ongoing crisis in Sudan has also significantly impacted South Sudan, complicating the return of refugees and potentially impacting South Sudan’s economy by disrupting oil exports.
Fracture within Ecowas and animosity with US provides ideal ground for terrorism in West Africa
Despite the military regimes of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger forming an alliance of Sahel states to fight terrorism and to promote economic development, recent attacks with mass fatalities indicate that terrorist groups might already be taking advantage of the lack of a coordinated counter-terrorism strategy in the region.
US Bernie Sanders says after losing lost vote to block arms for Israel: US is ‘funding starvation of children in Gaza’
The Senate voted down on Wednesday a long-shot effort by US Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont) and a handful of Democrats to block the sales of offensive weapons to Israel, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the northern Gaza Strip. Sanders’s bid to halt the sale of tank rounds, mortar rounds...
US Congress comes under scrutiny for muzzling legislators who queried bid to hide true Gaza death toll
The legislation comes shortly after Amnesty International declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, noting as a factor in their decision the immense death toll in the besieged Strip. In the first year of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, the military had killed 44,835 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.
Police in New Orleans scour debris for leads in truck rampage that killed 15, injured 30 three hours into New Year
FBI officials said they were also looking for any links between the deadly attack and a separate incident on Wednesday in which a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20.
Geneva Academy finds post-independence African youths free of colonial hangover are worried about corruption, safety and security
International influence on Africa was important, with China and the US being seen as important, but Chinese influence appears to be most influential. Russia is not viewed negatively, although its involvement in conflicts is not seen as positive.
Fragile geopolitical relations place world on high nuclear war alert as US, Russia grow stocks
However, the most concerning changes regard North Korea, which maintained its military nuclear programme as a core national security strategy. It amassed an estimated 50 warheads and enough fissile material for up to 90 warheads, with developments in ballistic and cruise missile technologies aimed at nuclear delivery.
Counterterrorism: Experts says economic growth is an alternative that’s never been tested in Africa
Social and economic development policies, on the other hand, contribute to the expansion of a new middle class in communities that have traditionally lent support to terrorist groups, according to Rand Corp researchers Kim Cragin and Peter Chalk.
Islamic State attacks Somalia’s Puntland military base, claims it killed 22 soldiers
Captain Yusuf Mohamed, an officer in Puntland’s counter-terrorism forces, said on Tuesday that nine suicide bombers had been killed and several soldiers had been injured, near the town of Dharjaale in the Bari region.
FBI link driver flying ISIS flag and rammed into New Orleans crowd, killing 15 to terrorism
Police found weapons and a potential explosive device in the vehicle, while two potential explosive devices were found in the French Quarter and rendered safe, the FBI said.
