Cross-strait tensions, the One-China policy and regional security around Taiwan and China.
Events
External
It’s an honor to attend events like this as a guest, and even more so as a speaker. On Friday at 3:30 p.m., I’ll be moderating a panel with the CEOs of three of the hottest AI startups. I definitely have a few questions…
Nobel peace prize
External
The South African-born jurist and former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has won a Nobel her efforts to promote peace and international law. The 85-year-old, who is an ad hoc judge at the international court of…
Democracy & Governance
Political scientists have a fairly dry checklist for what makes a regime oppressive: it silences dissent, it turns state power against its own people, it treats international law as optional, and it punishes…
Europe
External
As NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European leaders increasingly warn of a looming Russian threat, Vladimir Putin used the Valdai Discussion Club to deliver a very different message: Europe is feeding an escalation…
Nobel peace prize
External
Committee recognises work of South African who chaired UN commission that concluded Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza - Nobel peace prize – latest updates The Nobel peace prize has been awarded to Navi Pillay, the…
Hurricane Isaias
External
Storm expected to make landfall on US’s northern Gulf coast with risk of flash floods and isolated river flooding Isaias has become the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season, with wind speeds of 80mph and a minimum…
South Asia
External
China is increasingly trying to diversify its connections to the region as Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan create new security and strategic problems for Beijing. The opening of a road through the Wakhan Corridor is an…
Analysis
Walmart serves 280 million shoppers a week and churned out more than $22 billion in profit in the last fiscal year. So, suffice it to say, I was floored – and maybe even a bit flattered – when the retail behemoth issued…
Columns
External
Pakistan’s deployment of troops to Saudi Arabia under the Makkah Pact could deepen domestic political instability, strain its relations with Iran, and undermine its strategic autonomy by drawing Islamabad further into a…
Aid
Children in Gaza wait in the hope of receiving food. Credit: UN News By UN Women UNITED NATIONS, Oct 9 2026 (IPS) Since October 2023, 50,000 women and girls in Gaza have been killed or seriously injured. • UN Women…
Cogs of War
External
A kill chain measured in seconds cannot depend on processes measured in weeks or months. The Pentagon recognizes that drone proliferation and AI-enabled lethal targeting are reducing decision cycles and increasing the…
Geopolitics
Thoughts on Gaza, China, and Afghan drug lords. Matthew Hoh is the Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network. A former Marine and State Department official who resigned in protest over the wars in Iraq and…
Commentary
External
In 79 A.D., Gaius Plinius Secundus, known today as Pliny the Elder, was the supreme commander of the Roman imperial fleet, permanently stationed at Misenum near Naples. He died during the eruption of Vesuvius, after…
Southeast Asia
External
Last week, eight Chinese-made light attack jets sat on a half-finished runway at Ban Keun, flanked by more than two dozen military support vehicles, offering the first aerial glimpse of a new Chinese-Lao military…
Biodiversity
By Madhu Rao and Tyson Miller SINGAPORE, Oct 9 2026 (IPS) When governments gather in Yerevan this month for the 17th UN Convention on Biological Diversity , they will weigh a promise nearly 200 countries adopted six…
Iran
External
Islam Times - Iran’s participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s counterterrorism exercise in Belarus goes beyond military cooperation. It is a sign of the failure of the project to isolate Iran and of the…
Iran
External
Islam Times - The Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei, has praised Iran’s internal security forces, known as FARAJA, for maintaining their duties under US-“Israeli”…
The-bunker
The Bunker appears originally at the Project on Government Oversight and is republished here with permission. The U.S. ended its military campaign in Iraq on September 30, as the final American combat troops based there…
Russia
Let’s imagine a bit of “future history” in Ukraine. It is February 2027. The Ukrainian winter has been unusually cold, and Russian air strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, transportation grid, and communications…
Defense-industry
President Donald Trump traveled to Baltimore this week to announce a $7 billion deal with the defense tech firm Anduril to build autonomous submarines as well as components for the Navy’s Virginia-class attack…
Global development
External
Matsadaash staff allege torture and forced confessions after being held on charges of working for Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian journalists are planning a new protest in Cairo this weekend after six colleagues were charged…
Larry C. Johnson
On the morning of September 30, flydubai flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, left Dubai for Tel Aviv with 174 passengers aboard, 27 of them children. About two and a half hours into the flight, the first officer attacked…
China
External
Beijing has rebuffed a European Union request to voluntarily cap hybrid car exports to the bloc, raising the prospect of new, steep EU tariffs on Chinese hybrids, which have so far escaped the duties on pure electric…
France
External
Islam Times - France’s test of a new missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, along with Macron’s emphasis on the necessity of power and deterrence, has once again exposed the West’s nuclear double standards…
US
External
Islam Times - The significance of John Mearsheimer’s remarks lies in the question embedded in his analysis: How wide is the gap between the ability to inflict damage and the ability to force the other side to change its…
Europe
External
A Chemical Nobody Had Heard Of On 3 October, five days before EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič landed in Beijing, China’s commerce ministry opened an anti-dumping investigation into p-nitrotoluene. It is a European…
External
By: Ainur Rohmah Prabowo Subianto was welcomed at Joko Widodo’s private residence in Surakarta in 2024. Photo from the Ministry of State Secretariat As public satisfaction with President Prabowo Subianto declines, his…
Middle East & Africa
External
The hour after detectionGulf security is usually discussed in terms of deterrence, military capability, and external partnerships. All three matter. But when a crisis begins, the deciding factor can be more modest…
Activism
“ Following Harry” is available on Amazon, Apple and other digital platforms starting Oct.13. For more info see: https://www.followingharry.org/ . Born in 1927 in Harlem, Grammy, Tony, Emmy and Oscar award-winner Harry…
External
In a few hours the NBS will release September inflation and price data, and we should get more data on economic activity over the holiday period. In this issue: 1. European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security in…
External
This statement was originally published on mfwa.org on 18 September 2026. On 14 September 2026, the National Cybercrime Court (Pôle national de lutte contre la cybercriminalité) in Bamako sentenced Abdrahamane Keïta…
This statement was originally published on mfwa.org on 18 September 2026. Guinea’s High Authority for Communication (HAC), has banned French international news channel, France 24 , from broadcasting nationwide with…
This statement was originally published on mediarightsagenda.org on 2 October 2026. Introduction LAGOS, Friday, October 2, 2026: Concerned by reports of unresolved disruptions affecting access to TikTok in parts of…
Opinion
External
Several years ago, the US Army embarked on a sweeping small-arms revolution. Its previous service rifles, based on the M16 platform and its 5.56 mm cartridge, were deemed inadequate for modern combat. The result was the…
UK
External
Private messages show show Hamish De Bretton-Gordon, a top British pundit on the Salisbury poisoning incident, was a close associate of the MI6 officer who handled the Russian intelligence defector at the center of the…
Europe
External
Seventy Miles Off Byala At about 3am on 6 October, aerial and sea drones struck two Turkish-owned cargo ships some 70 nautical miles off the Bulgarian coast. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank on the spot. Its ten crew are…
Ethiopia
External
The escalating violence reflects deep domestic rifts – but is fuelled by broader geopolitical power games When the Nobel peace laureate is announced on Friday, the committee will be hoping that its choice ages better…
3D IC
External
Intel Foundry published a two article series on chip power delivery that are worth reading. Here is a quick summary: Artificial intelligence is changing the requirements for semiconductor innovation. Faster transistors…
Economics
The ideological roots of our Big Tech technocrats, and how tech is facilitating the elimination of the democratic gains that centuries of political struggle have earned Ame ricans Chris Hedges: An outgoing researcher at…
Geopolitics
Channel 4 investigation shows how the UK government repeatedly failed to hold the Israeli army to account for war crimes Peter Oborne’s new book, Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza, was recently…
Wildlife
External
Figure is highest ever recorded for species and confirms one of Indian Ocean’s greatest conservation success stories A landmark survey of the world’s largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has revealed the once…
Ethiopia
External
Government forces’ attack raises risk of internal conflict in Ethiopia that could trigger regional war Eritrean troops who crossed into Ethiopia’s Tigray region have come under drone attack from government forces…
Activism
Since the Supreme Court handed down its infamous Citizens United ruling in 2010, billionaires have poured ever larger sums into candidates aligned with their interests. They now have American politics in a chokehold: In…
Imagination Technologies
External
The rapid growth of AI at the edge is forcing SoC architects to rethink traditional processor designs. Dedicated NPUs deliver impressive performance for today’s models, but evolving AI workloads, increasing system…
Existential Threats or Economic Realities? The Fatal Flaw in Europe’s China Strategy The global economy in 2026 is increasingly defined by divergence. Developing Asia is driving global growth while the major Western…
China
External
The massive display of American military might during Xi Jinping’s visit underscores the shift from a unipolar world to a new reality in which the U.S. is compelled to engage with China as an economic and industrial…
External
Paragon Solutions vowed not to sell its mobile spyware to governments with poor human rights records and to cut off customers who misuse its products. However, in 2025 researchers at the Citizen Lab confirmed that the…
War & Peace
Volodymyr Zelensky announced it in five short lines: “FP-7. First combat use. Thank you for the result. Next up: production. Glory to Ukraine!” On October 1, Ukraine fired its first homemade ballistic missile in combat…