After botched execution attempt, Tennessee must commute Christa Pike’s death sentence
2/10/2026: Amnesty International has condemned the attempted execution of Christa Pike as "an extreme display of cruelty and the latest reminder that the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment." In 2025, the US carried out 47 executions, reaching the highest level since 2009.
Source: Amnesty International
Egyptian authorities arrest entire investigative newsroom
2/10/2026: Egyptian security forces have arrested six journalists, refusing contact with family or lawyers. The Interior Ministry alleges links to the Muslim Brotherhood. The country remains one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Can anyone broker a new peace between Tigray and Ethiopia?
2/10/2026: Just four years after a landmark peace deal officially halted the devastating Tigray war, fighting has escalated once again in northern Ethiopia. The situation looks quite different from the previous conflict. Parties outside the country have been accused of meddling, each having their own motives to destabilize Ethiopia's government.
Source: DW
Why geothermal energy benefits everyone in Iceland but not Kenya
2/10/2026: In Iceland, geothermal energy is widely hailed as a success story as everyone benefits from it. Kenya's development of the same technology is entangled in local disputes over land and pollution. Until questions of governance and finance are placed at the centre of the transition, the promise of “clean energy” will continue to mask deeply unequal outcomes.
Source: African Arguments
Accountability can exploit divisions within Taliban rule
1/10/2026: The international community's failure to influence reforms in Afghanistan may overlook that the Taliban’s authoritarian rule isn’t uniformly enforced. Accountability models such as the International Criminal Court could exploit provincial divisions, preserving evidence for future justice.
Source: Human Rights Watch
How a handful of corporations increasingly control what we eat
30/9/2026: As the world faces its fourth wave of global food price crises in just 20 years, a new Agribusiness Atlas shows how the market has concentrated into a small number of large corporations. It warns that the more powerful the corporations, the more influence they can exert over policymaking, and the more extensively they can block regulations designed to protect people and the planet.
Source: iPES Food
Will AI widen the global divide between rich and poor countries?
30/9/2026: Dozens of AI-related forums were held as world leaders converged for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Yet most low and middle income countries are still struggling with basic access to electricity, not to mention computers, phones and the Internet. Low-income countries account for less than 0.1 percent of global commercial data centers, according to the World Bank.
Source: PassBlue
New rating agency can change how development is financed in Africa
30/09/2026: Africa’s development finance gap isn’t just about a lack of money. It also lacks the domestic financial architecture required to price risk accurately and channel investors into transformative development opportunities. A new credit ratings agency can change that.
Source: Devex
Global support structure for refugees at risk from loss of funding
29/9/2026: Severe funding cuts are undermining refugee protection in the world’s most demanding displacement situations. Funding of the UN Refugee Agency fell from $5.2 billion to $3.9 billion between 2024 and 2025, with further reduction likely in 2026. The number of people that the Agency is mandated to protect remains at historically high levels.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Damning evidence of war crimes by state armed forces in Mali
29/9/2026: Members of Mali’s armed forces have been accused of committing war crimes, including the murder and torture of civilians, during joint operations in the Ségou, Mopti and Timbuktu regions between 2023 and 2025. A report by Amnesty International includes evidence that personnel from the Wagner Group were complicit.
Source: Amnesty International