Sacha de Wijs

Sudan: Mass Atrocities in Captured Darfur City Dozens of videos posted on social media in recent days show Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carrying out extrajudicial killings and other serious violations against people fleeing North Darfur’s capital, E...

Mass killings, rape, and forced displacement in Sudan — and the world stays silent. When global inaction becomes the norm, impunity thrives. How long before silence turns to complicity? @hrw.org

www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.

The shutdown of USAID has already killed 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children.

Imperfect as it was, no U.S. agency saved more lives per dollar.

A decision by the richest (man) — paid for by the poorest.

www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Rob Jetten's Dutch centrist liberal party wins neck-and-neck election race, vote analysis says Rob Jetten's D66 is the biggest party in Wednesday's election, according to vote analysis indicating it cannot be beaten.

Good news from the #Netherlands #DutchElections25 www.bbc.com/news/article...

Sudan: Mass Atrocities in Captured Darfur City Dozens of videos posted on social media in recent days show Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carrying out extrajudicial killings and other serious violations against people fleeing North Darfur’s capital, E...

Read more from HRW:

7/7

The RSF shows no mercy towards civilians because it fears no consequences for its crimes. UN security council members need to sanction the RSF leadership, act to protect civilians, and commit to securing accountability for these crimes. 6/7

As part of its 18-month siege of El Fasher, the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan dug a trench and built a sand berm around the city. Since RSF captured El Fasher, HRW documented and geolocated videos near the berm to the northwest — videos that could be used to prove crimes.

1/7🧵

The power of the possible: A step-by-step approach to strengthen human rights in the Middle East European credibility to uphold human rights in the Middle East has faded, but the EU can still have an impact by backing social and economic rights, empowering people through reform…

After years of failed conditionality, Europe needs a new rights strategy in the Middle East:
👉 focus on what’s possible — protect lives, defend space, set red lines.
Step by step beats empty rhetoric @ecfrmena.bsky.social ecfr.eu/publication/...

Danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.
We need to toughen our defences against Russia.

The Defence Readiness Roadmap outlines our plan to fill capability gaps with clear goals and timelines.

Extract of my press remarks ↓

As France burned, Macron was looking for his legacy The French president’s dogged determination to defend his achievements risks backfiring.

In times of populist pressure, leadership isn’t about chasing applause but holding course.
Macron’s choice to defend institutions + France’s role abroad isn’t escapism — it’s statesmanship.
The presidency’s strength is part of what protects 🇫🇷 democracy @politico.eu www.politico.eu/article/emma...

Germany spearheads drive to legitimize Taliban in exchange for migrant deportations Friedrich Merz’s conservative-led government is close to cutting a deal with the Taliban to deport migrants to Afghanistan, and other EU countries may follow suit.

And so it starts… www.politico.eu/article/germ...

Why Won’t the UAE End the War in Sudan? An independent inquiry has established the complicity of external actors.

400,000 civilians in #Sudan's El Fasher are trapped in famine under RSF siege — a genocide unfolding in real time.
The world stays silent.
The #UAE could stop it today by telling the RSF to withdraw.
Read via @foreignpolicy.com ⤵️ foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/16/uae-sudan-rsf-war-weapons

All Eyes on the Quad: How the U.S. and Its Partners Can Push for Peace in Sudan | International Crisis Group On 12 September, the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced a breakthrough roadmap for ending the catastrophic war in Sudan. With the initiative already flagging, th...

Beyond urgent aid, this moment could press regional backers to use their leverage for peace. The UAE & Egypt must end military support that fuels the conflict and honour commitments under the Quad statement — so Sudan’s people can shape their own future www.crisisgroup.org/africa/sudan...

Nobel Peace Prize 2025: PRIO Director’s updated list announced – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) The Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Nina Græger, announced her updated list today for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

With the #NobelPeacePrize announcement due tomorrow, awarding it to Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms would honour citizens’ power to serve humanity amid war — & refocus attention on a country where 150k+ have died, 15M displaced & 25M face hunger www.prio.org/news/3634

RSF attack on hospital in Sudan’s el-Fasher kills 12, medics say The attack by the paramilitary on the hospital wounded 17 others, and is the second such attack in 24 hours.

El-Fasher, Sudan — besieged by the RSF since May 2024 — has become “an open-air morgue” for starving civilians. The world’s silence is shocking. Since 2023 Sudan has seen 150k civilians killed, 15 million displaced & 25 million people facing acute hunger www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

Enemy number one: What Putin’s foreign policy speech says about Europe At this year’s Valdai club, Vladimir Putin gave his most anti-EU speech yet, citing his determination to see new anti-establishment politicians to come to power and improve Europe’s relations with…

Must-read @ecfr.eu : Putin’s Valdai speech marks a shift. He brands Europe “enemy #1”, vows more military pressure, backs far-right parties & steps up info warfare — while praising Trump as a model.
Europe must reinforce defence and resilience !

ecfr.eu/article/enem...

Enemy number one: What Putin’s foreign policy speech says about Europe At this year’s Valdai club, Vladimir Putin gave his most anti-EU speech yet, citing his determination to see new anti-establishment politicians to come to power and improve Europe’s relations with…

Vladimir Putin has finally said the quiet part out loud. For the first time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has explicitly blamed Europe for the war, writes @abarbashin.bsky.social @ecfreuropeansec.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/46PIkhV

From my prison cell in Georgia, I implore Europe not to abandon us to Russia | Mzia Amaglobeli My fellow journalists are putting their lives in danger every day, but we refuse to surrender to a regime that threatens Europe’s own security, says imprisoned Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli

"From my prison cell in Georgia, I implore Europe not to abandon us to Russia.

My fellow journalists are putting their lives in danger every day, but we refuse to surrender to a regime that threatens Europe’s own security" #MziaAmaglobeli
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is the grey zone: not open war, but pressure by sabotage.
NATO & partners now face a hard question:
👉 How do you deter an adversary operating unseen on the seabed?

#Russia #Security #Geopolitics

⚠️ These cables carry:
– Internet & financial data
– Gas & energy flows
– Military comms between NATO allies
A well-placed attack could “turn the lights out” — destabilising economies & undermining political will without firing a shot.

The Russian spy ship stalking Europe’s subsea cables Covert operations in waters surrounding the British Isles pose a grave threat to critical infrastructure and a fresh challenge to Nato

99% of the UK’s digital traffic flows through subsea cables. Russia’s spy ship Yantar has been caught loitering over them.
A new @financialtimes.com investigation exposes how Moscow is mapping — and maybe preparing to cut — Europe’s digital lifelines. www.ft.com/content/0b35...

Macron warns Europe is now in ‘confrontation’ with Russia — live updates Putin looms over Copenhagen summit as leaders talk defense and security.

Europe has been facing 'confrontation' with Russia for a while now. What is new is the quality of this 'hybrid war', raising security + resilience concerns. Especially as Russia has used these tactics since the invasion of Crimea in 2014 @politico.eu www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Trump says he believes Ukraine can regain all land lost to Russia since 2022 invasion US president claims Russia is in ‘big economic trouble’ as he calls for Nato countries to stop imports of Russian oil

A bit of a u-turn, but credit where credit is due: Trump “#Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form”.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Polen meldet russische Kampfjets in Sicherheitszone über Bohrplattform in der Ostsee Zwei russische Kampfflugzeuge sind nach Angaben des polnischen Grenzschutzes in die Sicherheitszone einer Bohrplattform in der Ostsee eingedrungen. Die Jets flogen offenbar im Tiefflug über die Bohrplattform Petrobaltic.

Zwei russische Kampfflugzeuge sind nach Angaben des polnischen Grenzschutzes in die Sicherheitszone einer Bohrplattform in der Ostsee eingedrungen. Die Jets flogen offenbar im Tiefflug über die Bohrplattform Petrobaltic.

Nato confirms it intercepted Russian aircraft over Estonia as EU calls violation a ‘dangerous provocation’ – Europe live Nato spokesperson condemns ‘reckless Russian behaviour’ after three Mig-31 fighters enter Estonian airspace for 12 minutes

Nato confirms it intercepted Russian aircraft over Estonia as EU calls violation a ‘dangerous provocation’

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Der linke Beamten-Deepstate im Bundesfamilienministerium | NIUS.de Familienministerin Karin Prien (CDU) verspricht eine umfassende Reform von „Demokratie leben!“. Doch eine NIUS-Recherche zeigt: Das Bundesprogramm wird noch heute von denselben Beamten verantwortet, d...

Diese „Deepstate“-Rhetorik polarisiert und desinformiert bewusst. Sie macht Beamt*innen zur Zielscheibe, schwächt Vertrauen – und ist gefährlich für unsere Demokratie.
#DemocracyUnderPressure
www.nius.de/politik/news...

In Breakthrough, U.S. and Three Arab Powers Agree on #Sudan Peace Roadmap @crisisgroup.org

www.crisisgroup.org/rss.xml

China's Xi, Russia's Putin share vision for new global order at security forum Chinese President Xi Jinping urged leaders at a regional summit to leverage their "mega-scale market", while Russian President Vladimir Putin showed support for Xi's ambition for a new global security and economic order that poses a challenge to the United States.

China's Xi, Russia's Putin share vision for new global order at security forum www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Of course, the U.S. and others have meddled in foreign elections. But Beijing’s strategy in NYC shows how authoritarian influence can seep inside U.S. democracy itself — starting local, shaping who rises, and who falls.

#China #USPolitics #Democracy #Disinformation

It goes deeper:
• A Chinese spy plotted to smear or assault dissident-turned-candidate
• One State senator lost her seat after consulate pressure over Taiwan ties
• City Council member funneled >$300k to pro-Beijing groups that backed her

Through “hometown associations” tied to Beijing, the Chinese consulate has:
• Defeated candidates who back Taiwan or Hong Kong democracy
• Endorsed and funded pro-CCP politicians
• Steered government money back into Beijing-aligned nonprofits