International

The Veto Cracks: Hungary Clears Two More Steps on Ukraine's Road to the EU, With a Minority-Rights Bill as the Price

World Politics

Overview

After months of stalling, Hungary has stepped aside from one of the last procedural obstacles in the way of Ukraine's European Union accession talks. According to reporting that surfaced on October 7, Budapest has lifted its block on the screening results for two…

Mali's Junta Retakes Kidal From Tuareg Rebels, a Symbolic Win That Leaves the Harder Questions Open

BAMAKO

Mali's military government announced this week that its army, backed by Russia's Africa Corps, had retaken Kidal, the northern desert city that separatist rebels and an al-Qaeda-linked group seized five months ago in the most serious challenge yet to the junta. The recapture gives General Assimi Goita's…

Zambia Wins a Sovereignty Victory Abroad While Its Opposition Leader Sits in Prison at Home

LUSAKA 

Zambia was due on Thursday to sign a five-year, $1.5 billion health financing agreement with the United States after Washington dropped demands for broad access to Zambian medical data and, according to Zambian officials, severed the link between the aid and a minerals deal. For…

Ethiopia's Tigray Offensive Edges Toward a Regional War as Eritrean Troops Are Reported Inside the Country

ADDIS ABABA 

Barely two weeks after fighting resumed and broke the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement, Ethiopia's northern conflict is turning into something larger than a rematch between the federal government and Tigrayan forces. Witnesses and a government-allied commander say Eritrean soldiers have crossed…

Who Speaks for Tehran? Hardliners Move to Impeach Iran's Foreign Minister Over His UN Talks With Trump's Envoys

World Politics

Overview

Iran's seven-month war with the United States has produced a second front inside Tehran: a fight over who is allowed to negotiate. Hardline lawmakers have filed a motion to impeach Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi over his meeting on the sidelines of the UN General…

Two Armies, One River: Mexico Demands Proof as the US Surges Troops After a Disputed Coast Guard Firefight on the Rio Grande

World Politics 

Overview

A brief exchange of gunfire on the Rio Grande has grown into a diplomatic standoff between Washington and Mexico City. On September 26, according to the US Coast Guard, personnel on a patrol near Garceno, Texas, came under fire from the Mexican side of the…