A battle is forming over the future of so-called killer robots. Starting Nov 16 in Geneva, states will gather to decide whether they want to negotiate a new protocol on the use of "lethal autonomous weapons systems." The Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons is held every five years, making it a rare chance to govern the rapidly advancing lethal tech that enables machines to target humans with little accountability, rights groups warn. But there's disagreement on how to proceed. Some countries want an outright global ban; others are opposed, arguing that existing International Humanitarian Law is sufficient. Supporters of a ban say today's IHL fails to hold humans accountable for harms caused by autonomous weapons. A majority of countries want to start negotiations on a binding treaty; the US and Russia have reportedly blocked proposals and watered down language. As the discussions move forward, advocates warn that AI-enhanced autonomous weapons are a reality, not sci-fi—as civilians from Gaza to Ukraine to Iran understand.

A new conflict erupted in Ethiopia's south, compounding a nationwide crisis that has already seen federal forces capture and occupy the northern Tigrayan capital of Mekelle last month. Sparked by an internal border dispute, the fighting in the south has forced up to 50,000 people to flee across the border into Kenya. The clashes were triggered on Oct. 20 when a Somali regional flag was raised in Moyale, a town on the Kenyan border that is jointly administered by Somali and Oromia regions.

Guatemala received a shipment of weapons and military equipment from the United States on Sept. 21, the first in a series of commercial exchanges set to total $5 million. Weapons transfers to the country had been formally frozen since the administration of President Jimmy Carter restricted arms sales in 1977 due to the Guatemalan military's record of human rights abuses during the country's civil war. The ban was lifted in March, after months of deepening security ties between the two countries.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan on Sept. 3 released a new report detailing how external support networks fuel the conflict and escalate civilian harm in the country. The Mission concluded that foreign-sourced weapons, drone systems, components and personnel have significantly expanded the military capabilities of both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), intensifying the conflict's scale and lethality.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on July 27 condemned Israel's announcement of plans to accelerate the authorization of settlement outposts under Israeli domestic law in the occupied West Bank, warning that the move constitutes a "flagrant violation" of international law.

The technical prowess of jihadi groups in West Africa is well documented—from the use of surveillance and attack drones to Elon Musk's Starlink and cryptocurrencies. The adoption of generative AI, then, should come as no surprise. New research details how the jihadist movement in Nigeria has become adept at using AI operationally in attack planning, weapons calibration, and the design of explosives. Initial training was delivered through transnational jihadist networks, but Nigerian groups now have dedicated AI teams staffed by trusted personnel drawn from senior operational and technical roles, including bomb-makers, gun specialists, and engineers. "Trial and error can kill you. AI gives you accuracy," a recently demobilized ex-combatant explained to researchers at the Cambridge Programme on AI Science & Policy (CASP).

The UN fact-finding mission for Sudan has produced a follow-up to its February investigation into atrocities by the Rapid Defense Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, finding at least three of the "material crimes" of genocide* "overwhelmingly present." After a prolonged siege, the UAE-backed paramilitary army launched an October 2025 assault on El Fasher, which was the last major Darfur city where the Sudanese army and allied forces were in control. Since the February publication, the mission said it has received new information, especially on the abduction and mass rape of women and girls. It says survivors were raped by RSF forces in the presence of corpses, including of family members, and were targeted along ethnic lines. The mission also received new information on the high number of people—up to tens of thousands—who remain missing or unaccounted for, and describes the involvement of senior RSF members, including deputy commander Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo (brother of overall commander "Hemedti"), during the takeover. With the RSF planning a new assault on the North Kordofan capital, El Obeid, the mission said the same patterns are repeating, and called for the lessons of El Fasher not to be ignored.

A new Lighthouse Reports investigation has brought to light new evidence of the United Arab Emirates' role in sustaining Sudan's civil war by backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) through a covert logistics and training network based in eastern Libya. The report draws on social media analysis, geolocation data, satellite imagery, and witness interviews to trace alleged RSF-linked camps, convoy routes, and transfers of weapons and fuel between Libya and Sudan. The investigation identified four previously unknown RSF staging areas in Libya, including one near Benghazi. RSF defectors described training alongside Libyan National Army soldiers and UAE-contracted Colombian mercenaries before being sent back to Sudan.