Science, Policy & regulation, War & conflict
525 storiesRussian Defense Ministry says troops took Samoilovka in Zaporizhzhia region
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Monday that units of the “Vostok” group of forces took control of the village of Samoilovka in the Zaporizhzhia region. The ministry said the capture expands the group's capabilities and creates a bridgehea…
South Korea military blames North Korean DMZ mines for injuries, clears site
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Oct 5 that its final investigation concluded a mine explosion on the western front DMZ that injured soldiers was caused by North Korean mines laid south of the Military Demarcation Line. The milit…
Defense ministry to pursue cut, abolition of alternative service for arts, sports
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said on Oct 6 that it plans to ultimately pursue a reduction and abolition of supplementary military service, including arts and sports personnel, and to reflect it in the defense reform basic plan. Spokespers…
Asian Games gold row widens as parties in South Korea seek exemption review
South Korea beat Japan 1-0 on October 3 to win a fourth consecutive Asian Games men's football gold, a result that exempts most of the squad from military service. A locker-room photo of Park Seung-su in a discharge hat, captain Lee Ki-hyuk…
Explosions hit Kyiv-controlled Zaporizhzhia; bridge over Dnipro damaged
Explosions were heard in Zaporizhzhia, the city TASS describes as under Kyiv's control. TASS reported that an explosion damaged a bridge over the Dnipro and that traffic across it was temporarily halted. RIA Novosti reported only that explo…
Houthis claim missile and drone strikes on two Saudi Aramco sites
Yemen's Houthis said they struck Saudi Aramco facilities in Riyadh and in the Khurais area with ballistic missiles and drones, with spokesman Yahya Saree saying both operations were successful and caused large fires. Kommersant reported tha…
South Korea's Lee orders CPTPP talks restarted from the beginning amid farm concerns
President Lee Jae-myung instructed at a cabinet meeting on Oct 6 that the government should not fix a conclusion on joining the CPTPP and should “restart dialogue from the beginning,” saying the pact's strategic value is cited alongside ver…
Nobel physics prize goes to IceCube neutrino researcher Francis Halzen
Sweden's Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on 6 October that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery…
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agree to activate collective defence against Houthis
Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia decided at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on 5 October to activate collective defence measures under a pact they signed in August, confirming they would deploy their forces inside Saudi territory. The three…
Netherlands proposes civilian reserve of 150,000 for emergencies
The Netherlands has proposed creating a civilian reserve for crises, with RTL reporting a target of 150,000 reservists for emergency situations, according to TASS. The reported roles include drivers, security guards and mechanics. RBC repor…
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Awarded to Three Optogenetics Pioneers
Sweden's Karolinska Institutet said on Oct 5 local time that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University, Peter Hegemann of Humboldt University Berlin and Georg Nagel of the University of Wü…
Trump signs order allowing tax-free red-dyed diesel on highways
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday temporarily allowing off-road red-dyed diesel to be used for highway driving and deferring the federal excise tax on that fuel through the end of 2026 without interest or penalties.…
Russian drone strikes hit Kyiv's Northern Bridge; five of six shut
Russian drone strikes hit Kyiv's Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge over the Dnipro River on Saturday morning, injuring two people and damaging the road surface and overhead trolley wires, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said. Kyiv authorities closed fiv…
Pentagon withdraws all bombers from UK's RAF Fairford after suspected terror plot
The Pentagon said all U.S. bombers deployed to Royal Air Force Fairford in England have returned to their home stations in the United States, after a suspected terror plot against the base; the New York Times reported the withdrawal followe…
Russian military reports destroying Ukrainian drone control point near Kramatorsk
Russian state outlets reported that Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian drone control point on the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk axis, with TASS saying a Ukrainian vehicle was also hit. RIA Novosti attributed the strike near Kramatorsk to the “Sout…
Yemen government forces say they secured Bab el-Mandeb after Houthi counteroffensive
Yemen's government forces said on Oct 5 that they had secured the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a day after Rashad al-Alimi declared the start of a military operation to retake territory held by the Iran-aligned Houthis. Government forces said they…
President Lee vows to keep pledge to end “real estate speculation republic”
President Lee Jae-myung said on Oct. 5 in a post on X that his government will keep its promise to escape the “real estate speculation republic,” saying the country cannot be made to face a “lost 30 years” from real-estate bomb-passing even…
Nuri rocket erected on launch pad ahead of fifth flight on Oct 7
South Korea's Nuri rocket moved from its assembly building to the second launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung on the morning of Oct 6 and was erected and fixed in place at 10:35, according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration and…
NASA seeks contractors for a lunar reactor ready to launch by December 2030
NASA has asked contractors to prepare a nuclear reactor able to operate near the lunar south pole and be ready for launch by December 2030, according to a New York Times report cited by Korean outlets. The agency moved ahead of Chinese and …
Turkey, Pakistan to send forces to Saudi Arabia as Houthi strikes widen
Turkey and Pakistan said they will provide agreed military forces and take steps to deploy them rapidly to Saudi Arabia, after an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Oct. 5, in the first activation of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement signed on …