France and the United Kingdom have ceased support for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, the deadliest currently in operation. These withdrawals followed a decade of fruitless attempts to end hostilities between the West African nation’s government and its rebel Islamists.
Germany, led by Social Democratic Party (SDP) Chancellor Olaf Scholz, considers China both an essential economic partner and a “systemic rival.” This seemingly contradictory stance has produced political fractures within the coalition government, but it is part of a pragmatic geopolitical strategy.
Human Rights Watch issued a report earlier this month urging world leaders to move forward with a ban on autonomous weapons systems. This latest plea comes nearly a decade after the organization co-founded the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, and as advanced military drones are operating in the skies over Ukraine.
US progressives in recent days have renewed efforts to push President Joe Biden and Congress to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its atrocities, including war crimes in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a move that critics are calling a “dangerous escalation,” the United States is reportedly preparing to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to northern Australia, where they would be close enough to strike China.
US lawmakers led by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal reversed course under heavy criticism and withdrew in a matter of hours their letter which called on US President Joe Biden to initiate a “proactive diplomatic push” for a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Noting the pain and suffering of the Ukrainian people and the risk of nuclear war that threatens the entire world, progressive lawmakers have called on US President Joe Biden to make a decisive shift in his approach to the conflict by initiating a “proactive diplomatic push” seeking “a realistic framework for a ceasefire” through direct negotiations with Russia.
As new polling has revealed that most Americans now fear that the country may be heading to nuclear war over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, campaigners are calling on US lawmakers to take action to mitigate those fears, particularly by ensuring that the United States is doing all it can to deescalate tensions.
A group working for peaceful relations between the United States and China has sent a letter to leaders of both countries imploring them to end or limit “dangerous and provocative military maneuvers” in the South China Sea and near Taiwan that could lead to all-out war.
Continued heavy fighting following the collapse of a ceasefire between the rebel region of Tigray and the Ethiopian national government further imperils aid efforts to a people already facing what some believe to be the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis.
