Geopolitics & Policy
Geopolitics & Policy news — Tuesday 13 October 2026
39 stories from 6 sources, every one in English. Each links to its publisher.
-
US fines Bank of America US$1.2 billion, says it violated money laundering, sanctions laws
South China Morning Post Tech
The US Treasury Department said on Tuesday that it was imposing US$1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws. The fines on America’s second-biggest bank amount to the…
-
Russia detains Japanese journalist on suspicion of spying
South China Morning Post Tech
Russia’s FSB security agency said on Tuesday it had detained a Japanese journalist for alleged espionage, and Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said it regretted that Tokyo was using correspondents to carry out spying. In a statement on its…
-
Cornell suspends frat parties after alleged gang rape
South China Morning Post Tech
Cornell University on Tuesday suspended fraternities’ parties and social events for the remaining academic year following outcry over an alleged gang rape at one of the elite college’s all-male clubs. The 2024 incident, as alleged in a…
-
What the Ukrainian Strikes on Yandex Tell Us About Central Asia’s Digital Infrastructure
Drone strikes on Yandex data centers near Moscow triggered service outages in Central Asia, too.
-
Peru governor touts Chinese interest in deep-water port pitched as Chancay alternative
South China Morning Post Tech
A planned US$844 million port in southern Peru has drawn interest from several foreign investors, including Chinese companies, a regional governor said on Monday, as the government began promoting the project abroad. “Several companies…
-
Pope Leo’s lung surgery successfully completed, Vatican says
South China Morning Post Tech
Pope Leo XIV spent a peaceful night in Rome’s Gemelli hospital after doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung and confirmed he has cancer, the Vatican said on Wednesday. The surgery confirmed that the pope had the most common type…
-
Tupac Shakur murder: ex-gang leader sentenced to 40 years to life in prison
South China Morning Post Tech
A former gang leader was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, capping the prosecution of a long-unsolved murder that shaped the…
-
Drones and Missiles Are Rewriting the Military Balance on the Korean Peninsula
North Korea’s ability to disperse, conceal, and employ its drones, missiles, and nuclear weapons is outpacing South Korea’s capacity to destroy them.
-
Doubts Grow Over the Terms of Ukraine’s European Union Accession
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…
-
Six Flags closes some rides after man flung to his death from roller coaster
South China Morning Post Tech
Six Flags Entertainment Corp said it would temporarily close 10 rides at its theme parks, including the Goliath ride that was involved in a fatal accident on Monday, amid a string of incidents at its facilities. “Out of an abundance of…
-
New Trump spokeswoman makes White House debut, takes only 3 questions
South China Morning Post Tech
New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia made her briefing room debut on Tuesday by taking remarkably few questions from journalists while leaving no doubt who she believes has all the answers – US President Donald Trump. “I get to…
-
Pakistan Is Treating Every Grievance as Terrorism, and It’s Failing
From KP to Balochistan and beyond, instead of addressing the underlying causes of unrest, the country's rulers are hell-bent on targeting the opposition.
-
US Economic Diplomacy With Allies Becomes an Election Showcase for Trump
Investment pledges by Japan and South Korea make tempting achievements for Trump to hold up ahead of the voting.
-
US asks Greece ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign over alleged misconduct
South China Morning Post Tech
The White House publicly asked for US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle’s resignation on Tuesday as she faced mounting accusations of improper conduct, and she announced within two hours that she was quitting, ending days of talk and…
-
What the US PERM Freeze Really Costs India’s IT Industry
The immediate impact of Washington’s decision on green card certification for eight IT employers may be limited, but the freeze adds uncertainty to an immigration system already strained by decades-long queues.
-
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan to Import Indian Surface-to-Air Missile Systems
Indian Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh confirmed that Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are newer customers for the indigenous Akash medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile system.
-
MI5 chief warns Iran is targeting military sites in UK as hostile state threats surge
South China Morning Post Tech
Iran is trying to hit military sites in the UK and the suspected plot to attack a US-run military airbase in September was “not unique”, the head of Britain’s MI5 spy agency said on Tuesday. Ken McCallum, who leads the UK’s domestic…
-
Why Pakistan Tested an Extended Range Version of the Fatah-IV
Pakistan is likely looking to counter the Indian Air Force’s future strategy of launching air-launched missiles from standoff ranges.
-
Why the TTP Remains the Central Fault Line Between Pakistan and Afghanistan
The costs of confrontation are not confined to the security domain; it’s impacting every facet of the bilateral relationship.
-
From Data Localization to Digital Openness: Uzbekistan’s Regulatory Shift
Uzbekistan courts tech companies to boost its economy by easing its once infamous data localization law.
-
Spanish royals visit Ceuta to back enclave amid border migration strain with Morocco
South China Morning Post Tech
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia kicked off their first visit to Ceuta on Tuesday in a show of solidarity with residents of the Spanish city in North Africa as they grapple with a migration crisis that has strained relations with Morocco…
-
The Daily Roundup
The Wire China
October 13th, 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…
-
WarTalk: AutoWarCom and Project Meridian
ChinaTalk
Jordan Schneider, Justin McIntosh, and Bryan Clark are joined by Arthur Tellis of the Institute for Progress to discuss: AutoWarCom and Project Agincourt — why a new four-star command for autonomous warfare could do the opposite of what it…
-
The UAE embraces AI for kindergartners
Rest of World
In September, Henry Price observed a classroom of 7- to 8-year-olds learn about the Stone Age. They discussed and wrote about cave paintings, then put on virtual reality headsets to... © Rest of World/iStock
-
Bulgaria seeks Nato support after Black Sea drone strikes hit merchant ships, sinking 1
South China Morning Post Tech
Drones struck two ships in the Black Sea off Bulgaria on Tuesday, sinking one and prompting emergency rescue operations, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Dignity sank after it was hit by a military…
-
Indian IT Companies Are in Trump’s Crosshairs
Top companies like Infosys, Wipro, and Cognizant will not be able to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers.
-
Houthi official warns US against entering war in Yemen as Saudis weather attacks
South China Morning Post Tech
A Houthi official has warned the US it would receive a “painful response” if it entered the war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has reportedly requested Washington’s help in dealing with the group as it weathers repeated attacks. Yemen’s…
-
Japan, US review military liberty policies after Okinawa killing
South China Morning Post Tech
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday that officials were reviewing the off-base code of conduct for US troops in Japan following the alleged killing of an Okinawan woman by a US marine. Crimes including rapes…
-
Pakistan Imposes Emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
By invoking Articles 232 and 234, the federal government has essentially neutralized PTI’s institutional presence in the province.
-
Building an Arsenal That Survives the Tenth Salvo
War on the Rocks
America faces a well-defined industrial base problem. Whether it’s a hypothetical Taiwan invasion wargame run two dozen times, the current Iranian conflict, or the Russo-Ukrainian War, the same result repeats: Magazines of key weapons such…
-
The United States Has an Industrial Problem in the Indo-Pacific
A central part of the deterrence question
-
How Taiwan Activates Beijing’s Chosen Fear
War on the Rocks
The standard explanations for why Taiwan is so important to the Chinese Communist Party are familiar: territorial integrity, credibility of deterrence commitments, great power competition with the United States, the strategic value of the…
-
Nasa’s Perseverance rover on Mars breaks record for off-planet driving
South China Morning Post Tech
Nasa’s robotic Perseverance rover has now driven farther than any other vehicle on the surface of any world other than Earth, racking up 45.2km (28.1 miles) since arriving on Mars in 2021, the US space agency said on Tuesday. The…
-
Protests Escalate in Delhi Despite Modi Government’s Heavy-handed Crackdown
Indiscriminate arrests, detentions, police brutality, and blockades have not been able to demoralize protesters seeking the removal of the chief election commissioner.
-
Systems to counter missiles and drones take centre stage at US defence expo
South China Morning Post Tech
As missiles and drones take a bigger role in modern warfare, major defence contractors gathered in Washington this week to showcase their latest advances in the technologies – and systems to counter them. The three-day Association of the…
-
Malaysia to Raise Transboundary Haze Crisis With ASEAN Foreign Ministers Ahead of Summit
This year’s particularly severe haze season has once again exposed the void in national and regional efforts to combat the problem.
-
China gives green light to Visa for local clearing organisation after years-long wait
South China Morning Post Tech
The People’s Bank of China on Tuesday gave its approval to Visa to make preparations for a locally registered bank card clearing organisation, calling the move a major step in the country’s financial opening up in an online statement. The…
-
Thailand Tightens Its Belt With 2027 Budget
The country's budget planners have been wrestling with the same intractable challenge since the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
Why China’s Training Center in Laos Will Not Change Vietnam’s Non-Aligned Foreign Policy
Hanoi's best option to keep its western neighbors neutral is to resist further Chinese encroachment by political means.