The recently convened BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in April 2025 failed to issue a joint statement on the bloc’s response to the United States’ protectionist trade policies under President Donald Trump. While the grouping has lofty ambitions to credibly represent the Global South, there are lingering doubts whether the organisation is wavering in establishing a unified direction and purpose with an expanded membership.
Standing beside Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Trump beamed before the cameras, grasping the hand of the man once known for his militant ties and battlefield leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—a group formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was the first direct encounter between a sitting US president and a Syrian leader since...
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.
At the 2025 Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, the air was thick not with celebration, but with reckoning. Africa, holding over 30% of the world’s mineral resources, remains plagued by weak trade integration, institutional failure, and structural dependency. Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania, Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal, and Tiémoko Meyliet Koné – Vice-President of Côte d’Ivoire – offered an unfiltered, brutally honest discussion on the real state of the continent.
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.
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.