By Alejandra Amor, Mansee Bal Bhargava  Indonesia, like many fast-developing nations including India, is grappling with a deepening water crisis driven by both human pressures and climate-induced impacts. Despite being home to more than 1,000 river basins, a majority of Indonesian households continue to face serious challenges in accessing safe drinking water and sanitation. Water resource management remains constrained by high levels of contamination, excessive dependence on groundwater, declining water retention capacity, and inadequate wastewater management systems.

By Carmen Navas Reyes  Venezuela, under threat following the attacks of January 3, and in perspective alongside the historical mirror that is Iran, allows us to study the models of classic oil nationalism and pragmatic resistance. But beyond the economy, some analysts have put forward the theory that Venezuelan and Iranian oil is not just a business, but vital ammunition in the war scenario being proposed by the United States.

By Kay Young   Since the American War on Vietnam, Bangkok has been a key hub for international journalists and academics in Southeast Asia. It offers modern infrastructure, easy travel, and a high quality of life, allowing them to chopper into the periphery and return home for drinks. These advantages foster a professional environment removed from the region it purports to cover. Western expatriates operate engulfed within a certain elite social and informational milieu, often resulting in confused, racially essentialist coverage aligning with the interests of the moneyed Bangkok elite.

By Celina della Croce   U.S. President Donald Trump has not shied away from admitting his thirst for Venezuelan oil. On 16 December 2025, in the leadup to the 3 January bombing of Caracas and kidnapping of the country’s president and first lady, Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, he claimed ownership over Venezuela resources, stating that “America will not… allow a hostile regime to take our Oil, Land, or any other Assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY”. 

By Tings Chak, Atul Chandra   We descended into Chibichibi Cave in southern Okinawa with the heavy feeling that this was not a site of distant history, but a warning. The cave is low enough that you have to bend forward as you walk. The air is damp, the light disappears quickly, and the air becomes suffocatingly warm. In April 1945, as US forces landed on the island, 140 Okinawan civilians—mostly elders, women, and children—hid here. Eighty-five of them would die by their own hands. Parents killed their children first, then themselves. This was not an act of collective madness, nor a cultural predisposition to suicide. What happened here was manufactured. It was the consequence of disinformation used as a weapon of war.

By N.S. Venkataraman*  The year 2025 closed with bloody conflicts across nations and groups, while the United Nations continued to appear ineffective—reduced to a debate forum with little impact on global peace and harmony.  

By Rajiv Shah  More than a decade ago, when I was with The Times of India, I used to write a regular weekly column called True Lies. The column—which still continues—was mainly about gossip surrounding Gujarat government bureaucrats, though I occasionally wrote about ministers as well. In that column, I would often refer to what IAS officials described as their informal weekly Monday morning tit-a-tat over tea.

By Vikas Gupta  Yuvraj Mehta—an ideal middle-class, upwardly mobile young man—died at the age of 27 in Noida, an archetypal North Indian town, in an equally upwardly mobile neighbourhood. He died in a deeply disturbing way—disturbing, that is, for the government and its constituents who control the system—causing immense agony and embarrassment to local authorities, the state government, the police, the fire department, and disaster relief forces.

By Sudhansu R. Das  The world’s true wealth isn’t buried deep in mines. It is all around us—in the glittering expanse of oceans, the life-giving flow of rivers, the richness of forests, the majesty of hills, and the irreplaceable tapestry of biodiversity. This is the planet’s “surface gold.” Its value—measured in sustenance, livelihoods, and life itself—infinitely outweighs the extracted treasures of precious metals and minerals.  Yet, tragically, too many leaders overlook this foundational capital, ignoring the permanent prosperity it can generate for a world fixated on the transient.