Geopolitics & Policy
Geopolitics & Policy news — Wednesday 04 November 2026
25 stories from 4 sources, every one in English. Each links to its publisher.
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Nasa’s 22-year-old Swift satellite telescope falls from orbit in fiery finale
South China Morning Post Tech
Nasa’s Swift satellite telescope, which spent two decades studying the most powerful known blasts of energy in the cosmos, tumbled out of orbit as expected on Wednesday and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere over Indonesia, the space agency…
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Zelensky honours Melania Trump with Ukraine award for brokering Oleshky truce
South China Morning Post Tech
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday awarded US first lady Melania Trump a national honour for her role in brokering a partial ceasefire that allowed the evacuation of civilians from a Russian-occupied town. “I hereby decree…
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Canada to curb reliance on US despite Trump team’s crushing midterm loss, minister says
South China Morning Post Tech
Canada’s push to reduce economic dependence on the US will not change after President Donald Trump’s Republican Party suffered a crushing midterm election defeat, an official said on Wednesday. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has…
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Bob Dylan comes knockin’ on pope’s door as Leo welcomes legend to Vatican
South China Morning Post Tech
Bob Dylan came knockin’ on Pope Leo’s door on Wednesday, as the American singer-songwriter and poet visited the American pope at the Vatican during a break between concert dates in Italy. The Vatican said the encounter was brief, with Leo…
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Ex-prince Andrew becomes first UK royal in 156 years to get witness summons
South China Morning Post Tech
The former prince Andrew has been called to testify as a witness in a civil fraud trial, marking what is believed to be the first time in more than 150 years that a member of the royal family has received a witness summons, British media…
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North Korea’s State of Play in the Russia-Ukraine War
Where does North Korea’s involvement in the war stand today – and where might it be headed?
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Kazakhstan Eyes Ambitious 2035 Goal for 2 Nuclear Power Plants
A deal with China hasn’t been settled yet but still, Astana hopes to complete both its first and second nuclear power plants within a decade.
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Why Are Wars Increasingly Difficult to End?
War on the Rocks
The number of armed conflicts has increased in recent years, and researchers have warned that many wars are lasting longer and have become more difficult to end. We asked five experts if the 21st-century trend of more intractable wars is…
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The Army’s Command-and-Control Reboot
War on the Rocks
How the Army makes decisions, communicates orders, coordinates forces, and keeps operations moving toward a common goal is undergoing a revolution. It’s called Next Generation Command and Control. Two of its architects — Lt. Gen. Matthew…
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The China-Israel-US Triangle, Then and Now
Insights from Eyal Propper.
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China Is Defanging the Dollar, Not Dethroning It
Countries like Russia and Iran can settle transactions using the yuan – but those proceeds remain trapped in China by Beijing's design.
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The Next Phase of Japan-Vietnam Relations
The question now is whether the two countries can turn their increasingly ambitious partnership into tangible economic and strategic results.
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How Some Media Shape Regional Australia’s Hostility to Renewable Energy
Research traces how partisan outlets link climate-delay narratives, fossil-fuel interests, and audiences, reshaping regional energy debates and public trust.
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The Squad and the Quad: 2 Tracks of Security Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
The Squad should be understood not as a replacement for the Quad but as an expression of the Indo-Pacific’s increasingly layered security architecture.
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Danish students join European wave of youth strikes over education cuts
South China Morning Post Tech
Thousands of young Danes took to the streets on Wednesday to protest over a government plan to cut student allowances, adding to a wave of European youth anger. Under the banner “Enough is Enough”, 11 high school and university student…
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The Daily Roundup
The Wire China
November 4th, 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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Opium Is Back in Afghanistan
The resurgence of opium in Afghanistan is more than a statistical reversal.
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Pakistan’s Abrupt (and Aborted) Revocation of Taiwan’s Overflight Privileges
Pakistan announced that Taiwanese airlines would not be allowed to fly over the country, before abruptly rescinding the change. Is this a new strategy from Beijing?
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Needles, nails, pins found in Halloween sweets across Austria, Germany
South China Morning Post Tech
Austrian police have launched an investigation after small metal objects such as nails, needles and pins were found in Halloween sweets at several locations across the country. Police received 13 reports of metal objects found in sweets…
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China’s Companionship Economy: Paying for Someone to Play With Me
From video game partners to romantic role-playing games, more and more Chinese are paying for the chance to forge real connections.
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UK foreign minister hints at formal slavery apology but says payouts ‘not feasible’
South China Morning Post Tech
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said it was “not feasible” for the country to pay reparations for slavery, after King Charles III expressed remorse amid calls for a formal apology and compensation. “It’s not the right answer…
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Blow for Netanyahu as Israeli election body rejects claims of Arab party fraud
South China Morning Post Tech
Israeli electoral authorities on Wednesday rejected allegations promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fraud by Arab parties, who could hold the key to removing him from power after a divisive vote. President Isaac Herzog on…
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The G.I. and the Paperback: A World War II Love Story
War on the Rocks
On June 5, 1944, as soldiers lined British shores, preparing for their perilous journey to the beaches of Normandy, Special Services units handed out comfort items, from packs of cigarettes to candy. But one item was more sought after than…
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As US-Iran war shows, China’s influence can’t secure its line to Gulf oil
South China Morning Post Tech
China is becoming increasingly important to the Gulf’s economic future. Yet the Gulf remains capable of disrupting China’s own. That is the contradiction exposed by the US-Iran war. Beijing’s importance as an energy customer, investor and…
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Taking Stock of India-China Relations: Structural Divergences and the Limits of Diplomacy
Post Galwan, the Sino-Indian military balance has become more skewed. India’s procurement and defense industrial ecosystem has also led to lags in enhancing its military power.