Rising anger over one-sided US health funding pacts with African countries
27/2/2026: At least 17 African countries have signed bilateral agreements with the current US administration, collectively securing $11.3bn in health aid. But there is growing outrage at US demands to share biological resources and patient data, and other conditions.
Source: The Guardian
Guterres slams international failure to manage safe migration
27/2/2026: The UN's update on the 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration finds that in 2024 an estimated 304 million people were migrants, or 3.7 per cent of the world’s population. The UN Secretary-General emphasised that no country can manage migration alone, especially as the international community confronts challenges such as climate change and demographic transition.
Source: UN News
Drifting through dispute in the South China Sea
27/2/2026: The geopolitics of the South China Sea in 2025 were shaped by confrontation, militarisation and US–China rivalry. While some progress was made towards reaching an ASEAN–China Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, negotiations will remain fraught in 2026.
Source: East Asia Forum
US trade deal undermines Indonesia’s climate obligations
26/3/2026: A new bilateral trade agreement commits Indonesia to import $15 billion of US fossil fuel products. Environmental experts warn that the agreement jeopardises Indonesia's international climate commitments. This deal is part of a broader series of global agreements fulfilling the US “Energy Dominance Agenda.”
Source: Human Rights Watch
Big Tech is reshaping food production in Global South
26/2/2026: A report by IPES-Food warns that a powerful alliance between the world's largest technology and agriculture corporations is rapidly gaining control of farming under the guise of innovation. This pathway risks widening inequality between farms and between richer and poorer countries, and shrinking democratic oversight over food systems.
Source: IPES-Food
New global report highlights slow progress in expanding secure land tenure
25/2/2026: The ownership, tenure or use rights of only 35 percent of the world’s land is formally documented, according to a new UN report. More than one billion people fear that they could lose the rights to some or all of their land and housing within the next five years. And more than a third of the world’s stored carbon and 40 percent of its intact forests are at risk of legal limbo.
Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization
Ethiopia shutters key news outlet
25/2/2026: Three months ahead of national elections, Ethiopia’s Media Authority revoked the license of the Addis Standard, one of the last independent media outlets in the country. Since 2025, Ethiopian government efforts to muzzle independent media have escalated through arbitrary arrests and revocation of licenses of journalists.
Source: Human Rights Watch
The growing threat of conflict in the Horn of Africa
23/2/2026: If civil war in Ethiopia reignites, there are fears it would drag in neighbouring Sudan. Tigray’s elite has become deeply split, with every policy issue framed through the lens of factional allegiance. Demobilisation and other terms of the Pretoria peace deal have not been enforced. None of the probable scenarios offers a clear path to victory for any of the parties.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Iran resorts to death penalty amid expedited and grossly unfair trials
20/2/2026: Amnesty International is calling on all UN member states to coordinate urgent diplomatic action, demanding that Iranian authorities quash death sentences for alleged offences linked to the January 2026 protests. Eight individuals have been sentenced to death and over 50 others are at risk of the death penalty, including two 17-year-olds.
Source: Amnesty International
Trump’s Board of Peace convenes for first time
18/2/2026: President Trump’s Board of Peace has held its first meeting. The new entity was established by a UN Council resolution to implement the plan to end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas. Phase 2 of the peace plan includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, disarming Hamas, and installing a transitional Palestinian administration. It is yet to be seen how useful the board will be in carrying out its Security Council-sanctioned responsibilities in Gaza.
Source: PassBlue