The United Nations faces an existential threat as severe budget cuts, particularly from major donors like the U.S., push it toward potential insolvency. Humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, and global development initiatives are already in jeopardy. Without urgent reforms and diversified funding, the UN risks becoming irrelevant at a time when the world needs it most.
Trump’s handshake with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on 14 May 2025 was not just the revival of US-Syria dialogue—it was a deliberate violation of every expectation set by decades of bipartisan American foreign policy. Only months earlier, Trump had declared Syria to be “not our fight.”
One can argue that a primary objective of Trump’s visit to the Middle East is to be engaged in Gaza diplomacy to bring about the end of Israel’s operations in Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 2023 and has claimed the lives of up to 50,000+ Palestinians residing in the besieged enclave.
Africa’s private sector drives more than 60 percent of our jobs and nearly 70 percent of our collective GDP. It is the engine that will power sustainable growth across our nations. Yet this engine must run on the fuel of a modern, predictable, and responsive legal framework.
Donald Trump was swept into office by voters frustrated with the price inflation of everyday necessities; rising cost of milk, bread, and eggs had become symbols of deepening economic strain. His campaign promise to rein in inflation, protect American workers, and bring manufacturing back to U.S. soil struck a chord with the middle class.
Shallow financial sectors mean policy changes often fail to trickle down to ordinary people. Over 65% of Africans remain unbanked and outside the formal credit system . Dollarisation, especially in Zimbabwe, the DRC, and South Sudan, has corroded domestic monetary authority. In the DRC, over 90% of transactions are in US dollars . Weak data systems make real-time policy adjustments nearly impossible. In many countries, reliable inflation data arrives weeks or months late
As President Donald J. Trump crosses the 100-day threshold of his second term in office, a new era of transatlantic relations is taking shape. These first 100 days have not only reinforced his "America First" rhetoric, but also reignited critical debates within Europe about the future of its security, economic independence, and geopolitical alignment. For Europe, the message is increasingly clear: strategic autonomy is no longer an aspiration—it is a necessity.
In a world increasingly marked by fragmentation, protectionism, and economic uncertainty, Japan and Vietnam have emerged as proactive leaders seeking to reinforce stability and prosperity through a new bilateral trade pledge. In April 2025, both countries committed to boosting trade and investment flows, while upholding global rules and ensuring the free flow of goods
When a global financial institution like HSBC increases its bad debt provisions, it means the bank anticipates more customers—individuals, companies, or even governments—will default on their loans. The bank is effectively saying, "We expect tougher times ahead." This isn’t guesswork. It's a move based on internal data, macroeconomic trends, and predictive modeling.
The treaty’s complex dispute-resolution mechanism precipitated several challenges for India’s hydropower projects, such as the Kishenganga and Ratle plants located on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers respectively. The Treaty’s annexure D permits India to only build run-of-river hydroelectric plants on the Indus water system’s Wester Rivers.