Armed conflict

Armed conflicts persist across Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar, and expanding fronts in the Sahel, DRC, Syria, and Yemen. Heavy fighting, mass displacement, and humanitarian crises continue as insurgencies and state wars intensify across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Islamic State claims deadly Kabul restaurant bombing targeting Chinese nationals

Attack in heavily guarded district kills seven, exposing Taliban's failure to secure Beijing's economic interests

By Layla Hassan

/ 19 Jan 2026

Islamic State claims deadly Kabul restaurant bombing targeting Chinese nationals

Syrian Army closes in on Raqqa as SDF retreats east of Euphrates

Military developments and territorial shifts

By Layla Hassan

/ 18 Jan 2026

Syrian Army closes in on Raqqa as SDF retreats east of Euphrates

Syrian forces advance as Kurds withdraw from northern towns

Military pressure forces SDF eastward, but core dispute over autonomy remains unaddressed

By Layla Hassan

/ 17 Jan 2026

Syrian forces advance as Kurds withdraw from northern towns

Israel shifts ceasefire boundary deeper into Gaza, creating new facts

Satellite imagery confirms unilateral movement of control line in at least three locations, undermining diplomatic process

By Layla Hassan

/ 16 Jan 2026

Israel shifts ceasefire boundary deeper into Gaza, creating new facts

Trump's ambiguous Iran threat tests the limits of coercive diplomacy

Washington deploys strategic uncertainty at the UN as Tehran faces unprecedented domestic pressure, but the gamble risks a miscalculation neither side can control

By Viktor Petersen

/ 16 Jan 2026

Trump's ambiguous Iran threat tests the limits of coercive diplomacy

ISIS plans prison attacks as Syria tensions create security gaps

The opportunistic threat

By Layla Hassan

/ 15 Jan 2026

ISIS plans prison attacks as Syria tensions create security gaps

Trump's misdiagnosis: why blaming Zelensky for the peace impasse reveals a fundamental strategic illusion

The U.S. president sees a reluctant dealmaker in Kyiv, but the real obstacle is Putin's non-negotiable war aim: the destruction of Ukrainian sovereignty

By Viktor Petersen

/ 15 Jan 2026

Trump's misdiagnosis: why blaming Zelensky for the peace impasse reveals a fundamental strategic illusion

Trump severs Cuba's Venezuelan lifeline after Maduro's capture

Washington deploys coercive diplomacy to dismantle Havana's last economic bulwark, testing whether a cornered regime capitulates or collapses

By Viktor Petersen

/ 12 Jan 2026

Trump severs Cuba's Venezuelan lifeline after Maduro's capture

Kremlin envoy heads to Miami as back-channel diplomacy tests U.S. plan for Ukraine

Trump's private negotiating track reaches its most developed stage yet, but enforcement and allied buy-in remain unresolved

By Viktor Petersen

/ 18 Dec 2025

Kremlin envoy heads to Miami as back-channel diplomacy tests U.S. plan for Ukraine

Turkey warns patience running thin as Syria's Kurdish integration talks miss year-end target

Damascus, SDF and Washington scramble to bridge command-and-control divide before Ankara's tolerance expires

By Layla Hassan

/ 18 Dec 2025

Turkey warns patience running thin as Syria's Kurdish integration talks miss year-end target

'Toxic gas' claims from Cambodia soldiers collide with fog of war at Thai border

Respiratory symptoms and unverified allegations surface amid heavy fighting, mass displacement, and a verification vacuum that's stalling ceasefire diplomacy

By Chen Wei-Lin

/ 17 Dec 2025

'Toxic gas' claims from Cambodia soldiers collide with fog of war at Thai border

Sudan's famine tops global watchlist as attacks on aid intensify

Three years running, northeastern Africa's crisis deepens while humanitarian response faces record obstruction and funding collapse

By Amara Okonkwo

/ 17 Dec 2025

Sudan's famine tops global watchlist as attacks on aid intensify