Analysis

NATO's €1 billion Innovation Fund is expanding into Poland and hunting for direct investments in counter-drone systems and space-based surveillance, its president told Reuters on Tuesday, in the clearest sign yet that lessons from Ukraine's war are resetting the alliance's technology priorities. The fund, backed by 24 NATO nations, will open a presence in Warsaw and look beyond traditional defence contractors.

Twelve months after the October 10, 2025 ceasefire, more than 100 humanitarian organizations say the truce exists 'in name only': Israeli strikes have continued, Israeli control has expanded to around two-thirds of Gaza, and the disarmament and reconstruction phases of Trump's 20-point plan have stalled.

Saudi Arabia has ruled out any ceasefire with the Houthis until the Yemeni government retakes territory lost in recent weeks, AFP reports. Riyadh's return to full-scale war follows a chain of miscalculations — a shattered alliance with the UAE, a Houthi offensive nobody was ready for, and an American ally that declined to intervene.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed on October 5, 2026 to activate their Mecca Joint Defence Agreement for the first time, beginning rapid deployment of military forces to the kingdom after an emergency Riyadh meeting on escalating Houthi attacks.

A year after the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire, Israel occupies around two-thirds of the enclave, Hamas has not disarmed, the international stabilization force has yet to deploy, and reconstruction has not begun — a Reuters one-year assessment of where the 20-point plan stands.

Sudan's army says it captured the strategic town of al-Mazroub in North Kordofan on Friday and dealt a 'knockout blow' to the RSF and SPLM-N in Blue Nile state on Saturday. The RSF still controls almost all of Darfur, and the humanitarian catastrophe — 19.5 million facing acute hunger — is deepening regardless of who holds the map.

Drones now cause most casualties in Ukraine, and a 'kill zone' up to 10 kilometers deep has made moving on the battlefield nearly suicidal. How cheap FPV drones rewrote the grammar of war.

Russia struck the head office of Ukraine's largest mobile provider Kyivstar and a Vodafone data centre on Sunday — the latest and most symbolically significant escalation of its week-long bombardment of Ukrainian communications infrastructure.

Within 48 hours, the Philippines accused China of obstructing a resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal — and China's military announced a naval and air exercise around Scarborough Shoal.

Drone attacks attributed to the RSF have shut down hospitals, water stations and power in El Obeid — while military sources report an unprecedented buildup of fighters from Darfur and West Kordofan ahead of a possible ground offensive.

The Rapid Support Forces have stepped up drone strikes on government-held towns in North Kordofan — including a courtroom and a college — as fears grow that El Obeid could face the fate of El Fasher.