Geopolitics & Policy
Geopolitics & Policy news — Monday 05 October 2026
47 stories from 7 sources, every one in English. Each links to its publisher.
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At Least 8 Dead in Myanmar Air Strikes, Rakhine Rebel Group Claims
In a desperate bid to claw back territory from the Arakan Army, the Myanmar military has ramped up its use of air power.
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Trump says will pay for TV ads after pushback over taxpayer funding close to election
South China Morning Post Tech
US President Donald Trump on Monday said taxpayers will no longer pay for television ads featuring him shortly before the November congressional elections after widespread criticism of the campaign-style spots. Ethics experts and…
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US bombers moved from UK airbase due to Iran-linked threats, Trump says
South China Morning Post Tech
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that a threat linked to Iran had prompted the removal of American B-1 bombers from a British airbase. The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers, and…
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Jeffrey Archer, former British politician and novelist, dies aged 86
South China Morning Post Tech
Jeffrey Archer, the bestselling British novelist and former politician who was jailed for lying in a high-profile libel case, has died aged 86, his publisher HarperCollins said on Monday. Archer sold over 300 million copies worldwide and…
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Former American Idol singer Caleb Flynn sentenced to life in prison for wife’s murder
South China Morning Post Tech
A former music pastor in Ohio who appeared briefly on American Idol was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, after a jury convicted him last week of murdering his wife while he was having an affair. The…
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Bogota mayor presses Chinese-led consortium for more metro workers as auditors flag delays
South China Morning Post Tech
Bogota mayor Carlos Fernando Galan has called on the Chinese-led consortium building the city’s first metro line to send more workers to its stations, after the country’s top auditor warned that delays in several parts of the project could…
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The Scam Industry Is Becoming a Big Problem in India
According to the FBI, American nationals lost around $50 million to one network of online scammers based in India.
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ICC unseals arrest warrants for 4 Taliban leaders wanted on gender persecution charges
South China Morning Post Tech
The International Criminal Court on Monday gave more details about arrest warrants issued last year for two Afghan education ministers accused of committing crimes against humanity through the Taliban government’s restrictions on women and…
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Certainty is a Luxury Ukrainians Must Create
War on the Rocks
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 Ukrainian media…
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Quebec votes in provincial election as separatist surge poses test for Canada’s PM Carney
South China Morning Post Tech
Separatists won provincial elections in Quebec on Monday, with a promise to hold a vote on leaving Canada after US President Donald Trump leaves office, testing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s message of national unity. But the Parti…
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After plague death reports at Siberia lab, Russia says situation under control
South China Morning Post Tech
Russia on Monday sought to play down reports that a laboratory technician had died of plague, even as US President Donald Trump said Washington was closely monitoring the situation and offered US help. Reports on Friday that pneumonic…
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US Marine’s Arrest for Murder Tests Okinawa’s New Governor
An alleged killing days after Koja Genta took office threatens Tokyo’s hopes for closer cooperation with Okinawa on its expanding southwestern defense posture.
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US to announce US$150 million for Alaska power lines as Vance visits battleground state
South China Morning Post Tech
The US Energy Department will announce US$150 million in new funding for power lines in Alaska on Monday as Vice-President J.D. Vance visits the state, where Republicans are fighting to hold a critical Senate seat in the November midterm…
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Mine Blast Tests South Korean Engagement Policy as Pyongyang Rejects Any Contact
North Korea has denied planting the mines and refused talks on the boundary line.
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The Triumph of Tech-Fueled Propaganda
CSET Georgetown
CSET’s Josh A. Goldstein co-authored an op-ed with Renée DiResta in Foreign Affairs . The article examines how foreign influence operations are evolving as governments combine traditional propaganda, social media, covert networks…
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2 killed, including student, in ‘horrific’ school bus crash in Florida
South China Morning Post Tech
A school bus flipped over onto its roof during a multivehicle crash in central Florida on Monday morning, killing two people – including a 10th grade girl – and injuring several others, authorities said. Some 39 people were on the school…
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The New Nixon Shock? Why Japan Fears a Trump-Xi Deal
Some history helps explain why the symbolism of the China-U.S. summit matters so much to Tokyo.
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‘There will be no Hamas rule in Gaza,’ Netanyahu vows at October 7 memorial
South China Morning Post Tech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed there would be no Hamas rule in Gaza as he attended a memorial event marking three years since the militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack. Monday is a national day of remembrance…
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The Surprising Drama in Taipei’s 2026 Mayor Race
Few gave the DPP's Puma Shen much of a chance in traditionally pan-Blue Taipei. But the race is proving more competitive than expected.
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France school protests: teenager’s hand blown off after picking up grenade
South China Morning Post Tech
A 15-year-old lost a hand on Monday picking up a police grenade as students across France demanded better classroom conditions in a days-long wave of protests that have erupted into blazes and barricades at some schools while disrupting…
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China’s LinkedIn Espionage Is Only Getting More Advanced
The U.S. has benefited from hard-earned lessons in the fight against transnational online scams. It’s time to apply them to address China’s sophisticated and relentless cyber spying.
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Can Japan Optimize Its Record Defense Budget?
All nine priority areas require substantial spending, and the investment needs to be sustained over many years to come.
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Yemeni government forces seize control of Bab el-Mandeb Strait, minister says
South China Morning Post Tech
Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces staged a lightning advance on Monday to retake the coast around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait up to the city of Mocha, the government said, pushing the Iran-backed Houthis out of most of the areas they…
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A Woman Exposed China’s Cat-Abuse Networks – and Paid a Terrible Price
When the law lags behind, citizens end up doing investigative work themselves, and pay for it when the people they expose strike back.
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Pyongyang’s Ukraine Gamble: What Kim Jong Un Bought With North Korean Blood
For a military that has not fought a large-scale war since 1953, experience on the Ukrainian front is tremendously valuable to North Korea.
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Tajikistan Taps Iran as Russian Fuel Runs Dry
Dushanbe's emergency hedge against Russia's fuel crisis puts Tajikistan in the path of U.S. secondary sanctions.
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Can Japan Counter China’s Dominance in AI?
Since 2025, Tokyo has acted boldly and decisively to ward off foreign AI-related threats by developing AI for Japan, in Japan.
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Bhutan’s ‘Mindfulness City’ Hides a Dark Reality
As Bhutan sells its new Gelephu Mindfulness City mega-project to the world, exiled communities see a high-tech gloss over an unresolved past.
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The Daily Roundup
The Wire China
October 5th, 2026 | Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations. The post The Daily Roundup…
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Data Centers in the Asia-Pacific
Navigating a new era of resource regulation
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Empty classrooms on remote Greek island signal crisis across Europe
South China Morning Post Tech
Chryssa Ntalaka’s classroom has become an object lesson in subtraction. The sole teacher in the last school on the idyllic Greek island of Kalamos has a shorter list of students every autumn. This year, just two. On September 23, the sixth…
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China’s AI Safety Money Problem
ChinaTalk
Here are two claims I hear about China and AI safety: China is intrinsically less concerned about AI risk . Chinese people are techno-optimists, while the Party sees doom talk as either Western paranoia or a containment strategy designed…
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Why India’s missile deals in Central Asia matter to Russia and China
South China Morning Post Tech
India has sold its Akash air-defence missile system to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, giving it a foothold in Central Asia as it seeks to become a major global arms exporter. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh confirmed the latest sales on…
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The AI boom is making the world’s cheapest smartphones disappear
Rest of World
The world’s cheapest smartphones are disappearing because AI infrastructure is absorbing the components. Prices of existing smartphone models have risen by about 15% globally this year, while newly launched models... © Rest of World/iStock
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Brazil-China ties in focus as Bolsonaro gets election edge over Lula
South China Morning Post Tech
Brazil is set for a presidential run-off after right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro won a surprise first-round victory, threatening Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s grip on power in South America’s largest economy. Bolsonaro, son of…
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Nobel Medicine Prize awarded to US-German trio for work on optogenetics
South China Morning Post Tech
American Karl Deisseroth and Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for developing optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control individual nerve cells in the brain. The…
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HKMA licenses Bakai Bank, city’s first from Central Asia
South China Morning Post Tech
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has granted a banking licence to Bakai Bank, marking the first Central Asian bank to set up in Hong Kong amid closer ties in the economy and trade flows between China and the region, according to a…
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Ex-prince Andrew takes UK police to court to ‘quash’ Epstein affair search warrants
South China Morning Post Tech
Britain’s disgraced ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has launched a legal challenge over search warrants for his royal homes issued before his February arrest, Britain’s judiciary confirmed on Monday, in an unprecedented royal move in…
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Spain’s prime minister calls early election as housing becomes a national flashpoint
South China Morning Post Tech
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced early general elections on Monday after his government suffered a bruising legislative defeat last week on emergency measures related to the country’s housing crisis. The vote will be held on…
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The AI-Assisted Strategic Own Goal in the Kill Chain
War on the Rocks
For eighty years, the Western alliance has anchored its strength in moral legitimacy, shared values, and the resulting credibility to shape international norms. NATO’s durability through the Cold War rested on more than nuclear deterrence…
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China is Watching Us. Is the U.S. Air Force Still Watching China?
War on the Rocks
On Oct. 1, 2026, Beijing celebrated the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the beginning of the end for the U.S. Air University’s China Aerospace Studies Institute. The institute was one of several…
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Chinese travellers go premium, Malaysia appeals to investors: 5 weekend reads you missed
South China Morning Post Tech
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘No brainer’: growing trend of Chinese…
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Japan’s Potential as a ‘Third Option’ for ASEAN
ASEAN is looking for a third partner. Japan fits the bill — if it plays its cards right
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Can Australia Create Lasting Climate Impacts For the Asia-Pacific?
Australia is set to preside over the negotiations at the upcoming COP31 climate conference in Türkiye, but its support for regional partners will need to be sustained.
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It’s Time For Thailand to Amend Its Controversial Lese-Majeste Law
Over the past decade, hundreds of political activists and ordinary people have been subjected to criminal prosecution under Article 112.
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FBI chief Kash Patel and country singer Alexis Wilkins announce engagement
South China Morning Post Tech
FBI Director Kash Patel is engaged to his country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, the pair announced in a post to X on Sunday evening. Wilkins, 27, posted a black-and-white photo of herself standing with Patel, 46, flashing her hand in…
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Laotian man freed from eSwatini jail 14 months after US third-country deportation
South China Morning Post Tech
A Laotian citizen deported by the United States to eSwatini under Donald Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was released from a maximum-security prison in the African nation on Sunday after being held there for more than a year…