@kirankothari
Head, Humanitarian Access and Civil-Military /Relations with Armed Actors, Save the Children • conflicts • humanitarian • human rights • children • displacement • crimes • protection • negotiations • diplomacy • analysis • news • peace • descalation
“Almost all the 165 people killed in the attack were girls aged between seven and 12, according to local officials. There were around 170 girls at the school in southern Iran’s Minab at the time.“
A double-tap strike on little girls at school.
I know it is hard to believe, but people stuck in a conflict can be angry at the various sides at the same time and resist any alignment.
So you can be Lebanese, hate Hezbollah and have zero illusions about Israel.
No to war”: Spanish PM pushes back against Trump pressure
Anyway, read a selection of mine and @georgegreenwood.bsky.social's investigations into the Definitely Not Geopolitical Dubai property market here:
www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...
The migrant workers/slaves who built the city is geopolitics. The dirty money, the sanctions evasion, the uneasy relationships with neighbours, the war UAE funds in Sudan... Anyone living there is exposed to geopolitics. Just now they can't pretend otherwise.
"The trade was not that you were getting exposed to geopolitics when moving to Dubai."
50 towns in Lebanon are under evacuation orders given the ongoing strikes.
Meanwhile, Tehran offered talks that the White House has rejected, pledging to continue the operation until all objectives are achieved.
New: Drones are redrawing the map of war in Ukraine.
Relentless surveillance has pushed the battlefield 20km beyond the front, in both directions. Supplies arrive by drone; the wounded leave by robot.
This is the “kill zone” — and the future of warfare.
👉 ft.com/kill-zone
A book fair in Damascus is a window on the new Syria
economist.com/middle-east-...
I wrote this yesterday about the hero city of Minneapolis
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOW...
For more on the case, and the revolution in international human rights law it helped ignite, read here:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Masoud Barzani, who leads the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), warned of a "serious threat" to civilians in Aleppo ⬇️
The sanctions that Trump has imposed on the ICC and UN rapporteurs have been deterring American human rights advocates and scholars from exercising their First Amendment rights. This letter--obtained by @mesa1966.bsky.social & @knightcolumbia.org--should help. knightcolumbia.org/content/trum...
NYT gonna NYT: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro identify as socialists, though they have no relationship.” — would be funny if they did this every time you write about two capitalists.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
"The military operation ... runs counter to the principle of non-use of force"
"The proliferation of violations of the [UN] Charter ... by States vested with responsibility as permanent members of the Security Council chips away at the very foundation of the international order"
In 2025, I feel analysis and reporting from high trust - high reliable media improved coverage of natural resource factors in conflicts
A word I’ve heard and read a lot in 2025 is”transactional”. I feel as though I’ve heard it with increasing frequency since around March-April 2022.
96 percent of forcibly displaced populations are from countries facing armed conflict == war as a driver of population displacement
estimated 45.7 million Africans are forcibly displaced—refugees, internally displaced, or asylum seekers—comprising 3 percent of the total African population
This was a helpful and interesting post Alexander, thanks
Latest issue covers several days of Govt/SDF front line clashes in SE Raqqah, SDF-allied Shammar sheikh Mani' Humaidi's visit to Homs and Damascus, reported SDF focus pts for upcoming talks with Gov't, in addition to other local news from Aleppo and NES
akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...
In case you are feeling down today, here are some words for you:
(Think of Sadness as Gravity—A Force Requiring No Effort—While Joy Demands We Climb, Stretch, and Reach Beyond Our Comfort Zone)
gurdeeppandher.substack.com/p/think-of-s...
But are we getting paid as much as men to ruin things? NO! A woman has to ruin something 3 5 times harder than your average mediocre dude does to get paid only 75% as much! Keep fighting, my sisters.
Hard to imagine a more sinister & dangerous argument, couched in euphemism & high-minded language. "This essay does not argue liberalism will collapse, only that [US] military officers should be intellectually (and spiritually) prepared for alternatives." warontherocks.com/2025/10/the-...
500 dagen is het dat de Belgisch-Portugese hulpverlener Joseph Figueira Martin willekeurig wordt vastgehouden in de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek.
www.demorgen.be/meningen/hum...
Wrongly imprisoned for 500 days - and counting...
More in English: www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...
For God's sake - give this man a job! One of my favourite voices in fucked up times.
Astrid Suárez’s essential report on how these families’ patiently search for their forcibly disappeared loved ones.
how families respond to loss like this shows how love keeps human dignity even in the most unthinkable circumstances.
apnews.com/article/colo...
Once again tapping the sign of Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Most global affairs outlets ignore maritime issues until they involve naval clashes.
We even have a Maritime Issues tag.
If you're not paying attention to the world's oceans, you're missing 71% of the story (by surface area).
