By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Photo Source: Arab News During mid-April 2023, there was renewed tension among power brokers in Sudan, namely General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto leader and head of Sudanese Armed Forces and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This division between armed men in uniform has led to the latest delays in moving Sudan forward. Since then, horrendous human rights violations have become rampant as low-flying aeroplanes attack the ground. To add more chaos, United Nations and NGO compounds have been looted across the African nation. According to Justin Lynch’s Oped in Foreign Affairs, Sudan is facing a state of collapse similar to Yemen. As the Sudanese Armed Forces had launched an intense bombing campaign in Khartoum, it reflects that the air force in Sudan has been a decisive element in Sudan’s wars, especially beginning in 2003, when the SAF and the prec...

  Photo source: New York Times By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront A new glimmer of hope appeared for the breakthrough of the Yemen conflict, in April 2023 which in contemporary times is regarded as one of the world’s most gruesome conflicts ever witnessed. The talks could usher a new phase for Saudis after a complex conflict amid the harrying war, as talks have successfully made an eventual ceasefire with the Houthi rebels. The UN’s envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, ascertained that it was the nearest Yemen had been to peace negotiations since the infighting started. Although the optimism for peace could be clouded by mistrust due to the likelihood of pending major disputes. For Saudis, there are doubts about the reliability of Houthis as well. There are also continuing demands within Yemen’s south for a separate state. A path to a ceasefire in Yemen would be directly proportional to greater peace between Riyadh and Tehran, a bone of contention which may have been reminiscent of ...

  Photo source: Dawn By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Hamza Yousaf’s appointment as Scotland’s prime minister is symbolically great for reviving prudish democracy. He is next in line with Rishi Sunak of England and Leo Varadkar of Ireland to lead a Western nation as a minority south Asian. Dr M. Rodwan Abouharb, associate professor in international relations at University College London, told Dawn that Yousaf’s stability as SNP leader will be based upon his performance in office than his ethnic heritage, making his south Asian roots purely incidental. But for this feat, Jawad Iqbal wrote in Spectator: ‘the barriers to progress for those from non-white backgrounds are disappearing, and it is a remarkable development that would have been implausible just a generation ago.’ To many watchers, it shows that in contemporary times there is no country in the world except Britain where one can comprehend this kind of equality and opportunity at the very top of politics. Although, ther...

  Photo source: Reuters By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront There have been appeals for calm and political dialogue after anti-government protests in March 2023 in Kenya turned violent as looters had gone on a rampage, instilling fear in local businesses and forcing them to keep shut. As a response by the police, the tear gas shells were also dispersed at many places in Nairobi and beyond. It all started when the opposition leader Raila Odinga called for protests every Monday and Thursday, accusing President William Ruto of ‘stealing’ the election and failing to control the cost of living. Ruto’s win, however, was upheld by Kenya’s highest court, which sent tremours to Kenya’s opposition. Hundreds of looters had also descended on former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s farm, situated on the outskirts of Nairobi, stealing sheep and cutting trees before setting a portion of the property on fire. Gangs had also targeted Odinga’s gas company Spectre International Ltd. Some of the fiercest...

Photo source: The Economist By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upofront It was first in January 2023 when thousands of French demonstrators went violent on the streets to protest against a decree by Macron that raised the minimum pension age from 62 to 64. Then on specific days in February 2023, trade unions backed further strikes. It seemed apparent that the majority of French, including railway workers, rubbish collectors and others with the support of opposition parties, were resolutely against pension reform. In March 2023, there were nine hundred-three acts of arson in Paris alone, as anarchists, known as black blocs, joined in. Many French protestors have been on the streets again because they think Macron is compromising the hard-won rights of a modern welfare state and view his decision as an undemocratic abuse of power. It is because French workers need to work for forty-three years rather than forty-two to attain social security. But, the success of the no-confidence vote in Mar...