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Conflict and Peace

Stories related to violent conflicts, diplomatic tensions, and conflict prevention, mediation and resolution.

Editor's choice
Opinion
Symbolism Meets Realpolitik in Armenia-Türkiye Normalization Efforts

Symbolism Meets Realpolitik in Armenia-Türkiye Normalization Efforts

The prospect of peace in the South Caucasus may finally be within reach. Following the high-profile meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House as facilitated by U.S. President Donald Trump on 8 August, hopes are rising that Yerevan and Baku could soon sign a long-anticipated peace treaty. That breakthrough has already been welcomed internationally, sparking renewed movement on the Armenia–Türkiye track as well. Opening the Armenian-Türkiye border has long been a policy objective for successive governments in Yerevan.
Editor's choice
News
Libya government reaches preliminary accord with powerful armed group

Libya government reaches preliminary accord with powerful armed group

Libya’s UN-recognized government based in Tripoli has reached a preliminary accord with a powerful armed group to end months of tensions that have flared into occasional violence, a government adviser and local media said on Saturday 13 September. Negotiations between the government and the Radaa Force were facilitated by Turkiye, according to the same sources quoted by Arab News. Ziyad Deghem, an adviser to the head of the Presidential Council transitional body, said the details of the accord “will be announced to the public at a later date.” Libyan broadcaster Al-Ahrar on Saturday posted on X a video that it said showed defense ministry forces entering an airport controlled by Radaa.

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Editor's choice
Monday Commentary
The world is in a mess, but it is not the time to despair or give up

The world is in a mess, but it is not the time to despair or give up

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, is the world’s most senior civil servant. His words, especially in the last year, have been tense, terse and delivered with a sense of urgency, as he tries to convey to world statesmen, and the world public, the need for urgent, large-scale action to deal with the global problems that seem to be overwhelming the world body. The challenges are enormous, and the response, if it is to be effective, has to be proportionate in size and scope. 
Editor's choice
News
Thailand and Cambodia to hold talks in Malaysia on Monday

Thailand and Cambodia to hold talks in Malaysia on Monday

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to hold talks in Malaysia on Monday in an attempt to negotiate an end to a conflict that has lasted four days. Thailand said on Sunday a delegation led by acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai would attend, after US President Donald Trump called the leaders of both countries on Saturday to press for an immediate ceasefire. The Thai government said it had been told by Malaysia that Cambodian Prime Minister Hum Manet would also attend. At least 33 soldiers and civilians have been killed while thousands of Thai and Cambodian nationals have been displaced since border fighting broke out on 24 July.
Editor's choice
News
Fighting continues on Thailand-Cambodia border on Saturday morning with 150000 civilians already displaced

Fighting continues on Thailand-Cambodia border on Saturday morning with 150000 civilians already displaced

Clashes continued on Saturday morning (26 July), on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, as the two ASEAN countries resort to military means to resolve a border dispute between them that has been festering for over a hundred years. Casualties are reported on both sides, involving both civilians and military personnel, and the number of civilians displaced has already reached nearly 150,000. Thailand said its navy joined the army in repelling Cambodian attacks, in a sign that the conflict is expanding. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the conflict.
Editor's choice
News
France to Recognise Palestine at UN General Assembly in September

France to Recognise Palestine at UN General Assembly in September

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on X last night (24 July) that France will officially recognise the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September. He described this as a "solemn" act in support of a lasting and just peace in the Middle East.
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News
Ukraine protests continue as Zelenskyy offers new anti-corruption bill after European pressure

Ukraine protests continue as Zelenskyy offers new anti-corruption bill after European pressure

Ukrainians are taking to the streets to protest a new law they worry will undermine the work of two key anti-corruption agencies and erode the independence of bodies meant to provide a check on power. Protests are growing and spreading around the country even as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered a vague new bill to alleviate demonstrators’ concerns. After a day of pressure from Ukrainian citizens, the European Commission and many European governments, Zelenskyy said he “heard the public opinion” and promised to fix the situation with a new bill that he pledged would preserve the independence of corruption agencies.
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News
UK, Canada and majority of EU Member States condemn Israel for ‘inhumane killing’ and say the war in Gaza ‘must end now’.

UK, Canada and majority of EU Member States condemn Israel for ‘inhumane killing’ and say the war in Gaza ‘must end now’.

Israel’s isolation is increasing as twenty eight countries including the United Kingdom and a majority of Member States of the European Union issued a joint statement on Monday 21 July saying the war in Gaza “must end now” and condemning Israel over 'inhumane killing' of Gaza civilians seeking aid. The foreign ministers of countries, also including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Japan, said “the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.” The statement described as “horrifying” the recent deaths of over 800 Palestinians who were seeking aid, according to the figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry and the U.N. human rights office.
Editor's choice
Opinion
U.S. Interest in Armenia-Azerbaijan Transit Sparks Confusion

U.S. Interest in Armenia-Azerbaijan Transit Sparks Confusion

For the first time in 31 years of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the situation feels more unpredictable than ever. In the past, there was a grim certainty that another war would erupt just as it did in September 2020 while peace, on the other hand, always seemed distant. In recent weeks, comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that it was almost a done deal simply solicited disagreement among analysts and political commentators.  As if that wasn’t confusion enough, and although both Baku and Yerevan have said that the 10 July meeting between the leaders in Abu Dhabi was constructive, another issue has emerged unexpectedly to distract and deflect attention.
Editor's choice
News
More than 1,100 people killed after clashes in Syria's Druze-majority province of Sweida

More than 1,100 people killed after clashes in Syria's Druze-majority province of Sweida

More than 1,100 people, most of them Druze fighters, civilians and government security personnel, have been killed in clashes erupted on July 13 in Syria's Druze-majority province of Sweida, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. Clashes between local fighters and Sunni Bedouin, spiralled and drew in Syrian government forces, tribal allies of the Bedouin and the military of neighbouring Israel. According to the United Nations, the violence has displaced more than 128,000 people, an issue that has also made collecting and identifying bodies more difficult.