International

Ethiopia Cuts Ties With Eritrea as Federal Forces Close In on Mekelle, Widening a War Now Reaching the Capital

ADDIS ABABA 

Ethiopia closed its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats out of the country on Thursday, and Eritrea answered by severing diplomatic relations altogether. The rupture came as Ethiopian federal forces pressed to within roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of Mekelle, the capital of the…

Talks Collapse in New York: Rubio Sends Iran's Delegation Home as Trump Keeps Escalation on the Table Ahead of the Midterms

With the seven-month Iran war unpopular at home and diplomacy stuck over sequencing, Washington and Tehran are trading accusations while Qatari mediators try to keep a compromise alive.

World Politics 

Overview

The latest effort to end the seven-month war between…

In Baidoa, a Dispute Over Somalia's Federal Bargain Turns Deadly Again, With Hunger Closing In

MOGADISHU

Fighting returned to the streets of Baidoa this week as forces loyal to a deposed regional president clashed with Somali government troops and those of the federally backed leader of South West State. Children have been killed and injured and a health facility was damaged, according to UNICEF, in a…

Ethiopia's Pretoria Peace Unravels as Fighting Spreads Across Tigray, Afar and Amhara

ADDIS ABABA

Four years after a peace agreement ended one of the deadliest wars of the 21st century, Ethiopia is again at war with itself. A week of heavy fighting between federal forces and Tigrayan armed groups has killed at least 52 civilians around the southern Tigray town of Alamata, according to a medic who…

"This Could Happen to You": Spain Moves to Ban Evictions Through 2030 After an 87-Year-Old's Removal Ignites a Housing Revolt

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's minority government approved two emergency housing decrees on September 29. Whether they survive a tight parliamentary vote is the next test of Spain's housing politics.

Overview

Spain's Socialist-led government has responded to weeks of street protest over housing with some…

A Politician Is Killed for Defending Congo's Ebola Response, Exposing a Crisis of Trust

KINSHASA

Mourners buried Marie-Célestin Karondwa, a local official of Congo's ruling party, on Wednesday in Butembo, the North Kivu city at the center of the country's worst Ebola epidemic. He was beaten at his home on Sunday and died of his injuries at a local hospital after using a radio program to urge…