Myanmar
External
Critics said images of detained former leader were a stunt by the military to end country’s diplomatic isolation Myanmar has delivered presents from Britain’s King Charles to Aung San Suu Kyi , releasing rare photos of…
Democracy
The rise of right-wing governments in Latin America has reshaped the region's political landscape. As a new wave of conservative leaders takes office, the region is moving closer to Washington to a degree not seen in…
Iran-war
Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, endured a siege from 2015 to 2017. Today, it is encircled again. The World Food Program says it cannot reach more than 600,000 people in and around the city. The International…
Southeast Asia
External
The United Kingdom (UK) should expand humanitarian cooperation in the South China Sea as it remains a critical shipping route connecting Europe and Asia. Britain should utilize its strategic partnership with the…
World
External
Donald Trump loves to put his name on things, and when it comes to the recent burst of inflation, it’s totally deserved. Trump and Republican politicians are doing their best to try to make a simple story complicated…
Europe
External
European countries spent €115 billion on defence equipment in 2025, but only about a quarter of that spending involved joint purchases. The question is whether the EU’s new financing plans will make it easier for…
Events
External
By Richard Curtin Ever since the Silicon Catalyst 2023 Semiconductor Industry Forum ( “Welcome to our AI Wonderland” ) I’ve been convinced that the Nobel Prize committee needs to consider awarding a posthumous award to…
In just a few days, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party will convene in Beijing, making strategic deployments for the sustained promotion of full and strict Party self-governance. This is…
Analysis
Political prisoners across Ukraine have carried out a series of historic hunger strikes in protest against the state ‘s torture and brutal treatment. Authoritarian cruelty Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s…
US immigration
External
DHS says migrants ‘retain protections’ after temporary protected status was set to expire on Monday - Send us your questions about immigration and the midterms More than 100,000 people from Ukraine and Sudan can stay in…
Analysis
Green party leader Zack Polanski has mocked an odious former Blair adviser’s attempted smear. The move hopefully shows Polanski has learned from his own and others’ errors in dealing with the establishment’s and Israel…
Israel-Palestine
External
Two US-based activists have been ordered by the Department of Justice to testify in mysterious grand jury proceedings, even after they served two months in jail for impeding production of one of Israel’s biggest arms…
US-China
External
Beijing has proposed banning exports of the technology used to make next-generation solar cells, a move that could complicate United States technology guru Elon Musk’s plan to expand into space solar power. The ban…
Agentrys
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At Hot Chips 2026, OpenAI presented Jalapeño, an inference ASIC built with AI in the design loop. As reported from the session by ServeTheHome and Tom’s Hardware , OpenAI showed measured block-level wins over a human…
Solutions
The revolts across Europe are animated by a lack of hope for any future from a broken system. As national convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, Lindsey German was a key organiser of the largest demonstration, and one…
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The author of ‘The Rulers: Corporate Power in the Age of AI and the Cloud’ discusses the book’s big ideas. Cecilia Rikap is an Associate Professor in Economics and the Head of Research at the University College London’s…
Geopolitics
The liberals who still defend Israel on the basis that they are in favour of a two-state solution are deluding no one but themselves. David Hearst is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye. He is a commentator…
Members
External
Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each week, we bring you a curated selection of articles from…
Analysis
External
The occupation military in Gaza is still slaughtering children and other civilians every day and has done throughout the fake ‘ceasefire’ . Pulitzer prize-winner Mosab Abu Toha has posted footage of the latest atrocity…
ChipAgents AI
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ChipAgents is expanding its agentic AI platform across digital and analog semiconductor engineering, aiming to connect fragmented design workflows through a common system that can plan tasks, operate engineering tools…
Defining Wisdom Questions in the Age of Answers On October 8th, a friend reminded me that the day marked Hanlu ("Cold Dew")—the seventeenth of China’s twenty-four solar terms and the fifth of autumn. Waking to a cooler…
Europe
External
France is experiencing severe civil unrest, leading to a major challenge for President Emmanuel Macron in the final months of his presidency. The recent riots have caused widespread damage, including looted shops and…
Courts & Law
Based on the federal envelope, I thought it was a notification that I owed a penalty for missing an estimated tax payment. There was no reason to suspect I was one of the 950,000 Obamacare enrollees across 30 states who…
Opinion
External
Recent media reports projecting South Korea’s per capita GDP to surpass Japan’s have generated considerable excitement across the regional countries that see Korea as a role model. According to the IMF’s October 2026…
External
As if the back end of 2026 hasn't already kicked me and my family in the teeth enough already, my son broke his leg over the weekend. My day is being spent trying to take care of getting him comfortable and to anywhere…
EDA
External
Byline: Richard Shreiner Modern semiconductor architectures are pushing the absolute limits of physical scaling. As data rates climb into sub-picosecond regimes across high-performance computing, 5G/6G infrastructure…
Middle East & Africa
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Israelis are set to have a national election on October 27, marking the first since the October 7 Hamas attack, which led to a war in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Current polls suggest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will…
Analysis
Gareth Jones’s reporting revealed Russian famine, not just Ukrainian. Relatives of renowned Welsh journalist Gareth Jones have expressed their deep dismay that a planned memorial, partly funded by the Welsh government…
Democracy & Governance
If Flávio Bolsonaro wins the presidential run-off in Brazil on October 25, he would extend the region’s run of Trump-aligned right-wing governments. His opponent, incumbent Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, ran two percentage…
comment
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BBC politics presenter Jo Coburn has outed herself on live TV as a supporter of genocidal Israel – joining a long list of Zionists on the BBC . Coburn has form, playing a full-throated part in the ‘Labour antisemitism’…
#Culture
External
“What’s a good book for Muslim women?” is a question I get asked a lot – and I finally have an answer! Shaykha Sarah Ahmed ‘s book “ A Light of Her Own: Muslim Womanhood as a Path to Allah ” is a book for Muslim women…
Southeast Asia
External
Indonesia has spent a decade trying to turn its mineral wealth into something more valuable than raw commodity exports. The strategy is ambitious: restrict raw nickel exports, attract investment, build processing…
Aid
Iyá Patrícia d’Xangô (Mãe Patrícia) and her husband, Ogan Cézar d’Oxalá (Cézar Paulo Fogolari), cleaning their religious site three months after the mudslide in 2024. By Carla Ruas PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Oct 19 2026 (IPS)…
Announcement
Skwawkbox is back. After just over a year as part of the Canary and a hiatus of a few weeks caused by the indefinite closure of that site, new articles will now revert to appearing here on the original skwawkbox.org. For…
Cogs of War
External
As the United States seeks to rebuild its defense industrial base, Washington is scrambling to understand an industrial ecosystem that it no longer controls, nor largely understands. China has been able to achieve…
Americas
External
With the US midterm elections approaching on November 3, a strengthening dollar is exposing a major contradiction in President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. While the administration wants to weaken the currency to…
Active Citizens
By CIVICUS Oct 19 2026 (IPS) CIVICUS discusses the persecution of Uyghurs and activism in exile with Rushan Abbas, an Uyghur American activist, founder and executive director of Campaign for Uyghurs and chair of the…
Active Citizens
Top: Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank inside the Queen Sirikit Convention Center in Bangkok Credit: (IMF photo/N.Karlin). Bottom: Opening of the People’s Assembly. By Isabel Ortiz BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 19…
Middle East & Africa
External
Chinese think tanks and strategic and security circles (particularly those affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army and intelligence institutes linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security) are paying close…
Politics
External
Marco Rubio’s Athens speech presented American global dominance as the noble defence of Western civilization, but behind the historical scenery lies a cruder political order — restore Western supremacy and make Europe…
Opinion
External
Western governments are rebuilding ties with India even as they accuse it of foreign interference and of running intelligence operations against people on their soil. The contradiction was on display October 13, when…
Pacific
Protests against widespread state corruption have flooded the Philippines in recent weeks, putting pressure on the leadership of a country that for years has been one of the United States’ closest military and commercial…
Israel
When the Senate returns to session after the midterm elections , it will face sharp debate over a highly contested Fiscal Year 2027 (FY2027) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House version passed with a slim…
Enewsletter
In 2024, President Donald Trump won his second term and Republicans took control of the Senate by campaigning on “America First.” Two years later, some Democrats are trying to steal that thunder. “Everywhere I go, I get…
Business
External
The Gulf Cooperation Council, a bloc of oil-rich states long known for its appetite for imported cars, is becoming a growing market for Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) that are largely being blocked out of the West…
Southeast Asia
External
Successive Australian governments have reacted with alarm at China’s influence-building activities in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. They have passed foreign interference laws, tightened foreign investment regulations…
External
By: Tita C. Valderama The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has entered a critical phase after prosecutors withdrew three of four articles of impeachment, narrowing their case to allegations of…
Geopolitics
Towards the October 25 elections and beyond Branko Milanović is an economist specialised in development and inequality. His latest book, The Great Global Transformation: National Market Liberalism in a Multipolar World…