Neighbours

Thick toxic haze from wildfires in Indonesia continues to spread over Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Bloomberg reports that a powerful El Niño combined with widespread land-clearing practices, such as burning to clear land for plantations, has created tinderbox conditions across the region. The drifting smoke is degrading air quality for millions of people, reviving familiar annual concerns over cross-border pollution and Indonesia's fire season.

Ethiopia has publicly accused Eritrea and Sudan of supporting Tigrayan forces as fighting intensifies in the country's north. The allegation marks a sharp escalation in rhetoric, threatening to widen a conflict that has already strained relations with its neighbours and drawn international concern over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region.

Ethiopia has publicly accused Sudan and Egypt of supporting Tigrayan forces as fighting intensifies in the country's north, a charge that deepens regional tensions over the year-long conflict. The claim risks straining relations with two neighbours already at odds with Addis Ababa over a disputed border region and dam negotiations. Observers warn the accusations could further internationalise the war.

Bangkok has declared all 50 of its districts disaster zones as severe flooding affects the Thai capital. The designation allows authorities to mobilise emergency resources and aid across the entire city. Residents are sharing reports of waterlogged streets and disruption, and the move has drawn wide attention across Thailand and neighbouring countries monitoring the flood situation.

Ethiopia has publicly accused Sudan and Eritrea of supporting Tigrayan forces as fighting escalates in the country's north. The allegations sharpen tensions in the Tigray conflict and strain relations with two key neighbours, raising concerns about the war drawing in regional powers and further destabilising the Horn of Africa.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 8,000 cases, a grim milestone in one of the country's largest recorded epidemics. Health authorities and international agencies continue vaccination and containment efforts as concerns grow over the virus spreading to densely populated areas and neighbouring countries.

Ethiopia has accused Sudan and Egypt of supporting Tigray forces as fighting intensifies in the region. Sudan's army has denied the allegation, saying it is the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that maintain ties with Tigray fighters. The accusations deepen tensions between the Nile neighbours at a time when relations are already strained over water and border disputes.

The number of Sudanese refugees fleeing into neighbouring Chad has surged twenty-fold as the conflict in Sudan continues to displace civilians on a massive scale. Aid agencies say humanitarian assistance is falling far short of needs, leaving camps overcrowded and under-resourced. The crisis is drawing renewed attention to one of the world's largest displacement emergencies and the funding gap facing relief operations in the region.

Health authorities report a sharp jump in Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, even as the outbreak slows in neighbouring Ituri. The uneven trend highlights the continued challenges of containing the epidemic, including insecurity and community mistrust that hamper contact tracing and vaccination efforts in parts of the region.

Diplomats from Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Chad clashed at the United Nations in a dispute over alleged war fuel supplies and the use of chemical weapons in Sudan's civil war. Sudan's envoy accused its neighbours of arming and funding the Rapid Support Forces, while the UAE and Chad rejected the allegations, deepening a diplomatic rift at the Security Council.

Yemen's Houthi movement has threatened to attack bridges in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for airstrikes, according to a report. The threat marks an escalation in rhetoric between the group and its northern neighbour, and comes amid ongoing cross-border tensions in the region. Observers are watching whether the threat signals a broader resumption of hostilities or remains rhetoric.

The UN refugee agency reports that 55,000 Sudanese have crossed into Chad since the start of the year, fleeing the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The arrivals add to a large existing refugee population in eastern Chad and are straining humanitarian resources, with aid agencies warning of growing needs for shelter, food and medical care in border areas.

India and Pakistan exchanged sharp statements at the United Nations General Assembly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raised the Kashmir issue and levelled allegations against India. New Delhi exercised its right of reply, rejecting the accusations and reiterating that Kashmir is an internal Indian matter. The long-running dispute over the region and counter-claims of cross-border terrorism once again dominated the two neighbours' exchanges at the world body.

Afghanistan says 28 fighters have been killed in violence along its border with Pakistan, as Kabul and Islamabad exchange accusations over who is responsible. Officials in both capitals blame each other for the clashes, with relations between the two neighbours straining further amid the dispute. The reported deaths mark one of the more serious escalations in recent tensions between the countries.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has publicly called for a war in the West Bank and for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, according to reports from The New Arab. The remarks, made by a senior member of Israel's government, have drawn attention for their extremity, as they call for military escalation in the occupied West Bank and territorial expansion beyond Israel's borders. They come amid heightened tensions in the region and ongoing debate over Israel's conduct in Gaza and its policies in the occupied territories.

Pakistan's Prime Minister has declared that any diversion of the Indus river system's waters by India would constitute an act of war. The warning escalates a long-running dispute over shared river resources between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, whose Indus Waters Treaty arrangements have come under increasing strain amid ongoing bilateral tensions.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking at the United Nations, warned that any attempt by India to divert or block the waters of the Indus river system would be treated by Pakistan as an act of war. The statement underscores how central the Indus Waters Treaty has become to tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Ethiopia's army chief has publicly accused Egypt and Sudan of supporting an armed alliance that aims to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from power. The allegation marks a sharp escalation in rhetoric between the Nile basin neighbours, whose relations have been strained by disputes including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and regional security issues. Neither Egypt nor Sudan has responded to the accusation so far.

Commentary argues that climate disasters are intensifying and that authoritarian governments make the problem more dangerous by withholding information from neighbouring countries. When regimes suppress data on floods, droughts or dam management, downstream and cross-border communities cannot prepare, so the same hazard produces greater loss of life and damage. The piece calls attention to transparency between states as an underappreciated factor in disaster risk.

Sudan has rejected accusations from Ethiopia that it is supporting the Tigray forces during the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia. Khartoum denies any involvement in the fighting, which has strained relations between the two neighbouring countries. The dispute adds to regional tensions over the war in Tigray and border issues between Sudan and Ethiopia.

Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan in retaliation for a terror attack in Kohat that killed 31 people. The strikes have heightened tensions between the two neighbours, with Islamabad pointing to militant groups based across the border. The incident has drawn attention to deteriorating Pakistan-Afghanistan relations and the persistent problem of cross-border militancy in the region.