Sudan has accused Ethiopia of allowing drones to be launched from its territory to carry out attacks against Sudanese government forces. This marks the first time Sudan has directly accused its neighbor of involvement in the three-year civil war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In a March 2 statement, Sudan's Foreign Ministry warned of unspecified consequences. The drone accusation follows reports of the construction of an RSF training base in northwest Ethiopia, paid for by the United Arab Emirates. (TNH)

The US Treasury Department on March 2 imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) and four of its top military officials over their support, training, and fighting alongside M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

On the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Amnesty International called on the international community to maintain a steadfast commitment to hold Russia accountable under international law for its crimes and aggression.

During the annual State of the Nation address on Feb. 12, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of military troops to support police efforts against illegal mining and gang violence in the provinces of Gauteng and Western Cape.

The Science & Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Jan. 27 moved the symbolic hands of the Doomsday Clock to an unprecedented 85 seconds to midnight. The decision came a year after the clock was set to an also unprecedented 89 seconds to midnight—and three years after it was moved to 90 seconds to midnight. Each increment since 2017, when it was set at 2.5 minutes of midnight, has brought the Clock closer to doomsday than ever before. This year's statement reads: "A year ago, we warned that the world was perilously close to global disaster and that any delay in reversing course increased the probability of catastrophe. Rather than heed this warning, Russia, China, the United States, and other major countries have instead become increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic. Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence, and other apocalyptic dangers." (BAS, NYT, The Guardian)

A group of 21 Arab, African and Islamic nations on Dec. 27 issued a joint statement formally rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland as an independent state. The statement asserted that recognizing Somaliland as a nation independent of Somalia constitutes a grave violation of international law, emphasizing the "serious repercussions of such [an] unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole."

Amnesty International on Dec. 18 urged all states to prevent the Portuguese-flagged Holger G vessel, carrying munition components bound for Israel, from docking at their ports. Having departed from India on Nov. 16, the cargo is destined for Israel's biggest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, and its subsidiary IMI Systems.

The rising wave of far-right populism has arrived in Chile with the run-off presidential election of Dec. 14. José Antonio Kast, a 59-year old ultra-conservative who campaigned on fighting crime and carrying out mass deportations, defeated left-wing candidate Jeanette Jara by about 16 points. His victory marks the country's furthest shift to the right since the restoration of democracy after the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet 30 years ago—an era and figure Kast has openly admired.