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BERLIN — When the Trump administration lifted sanctions on Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik in late October, it marked a dramatic realignment in the Western Balkans that has sparked concerns in Europe that the fragile post-war order in Bosnia and Herzegovina may become shaky.In the Western Balkan country of three million, where the fateful shots that caused World War I once rang out, there has been a tense stalemate ever since the genocidal fighting of the 90s stopped. A complex framework including 15 parliaments, three simultaneous presidents, and a European peacekeeping force, all imposed by the international community, has…

A new report from a nonpartisan good-government organization warned that the adoption of a plan to strip federal workers in policy-related positions of their civil service protections would not fulfill the Trump administration’s stated ambitions of making agencies more effective and responsive, and could instead cost hundreds of millions of dollars in increased recruitment and training spending.The Partnership for Public Service this week released a report examining at-will employment in state governments, in light of the impending revival of Schedule F—since renamed Schedule Policy/Career—which would forcibly convert tens of thousands of federal workers in “policy-related” jobs out of the competitive…

‘Narco sub’ seized on way to Europe with £520m of cocaine reports that Portuguese authorities intercepted a semi-submersible vessel near the Azores carrying nearly nine tons of cocaine valued at about £520 million. Investigators said the crew used a fiberglass “narco-submarine” designed to evade radar and operate across the Atlantic shipping corridor. Officials described the seizure as evidence of increasingly sophisticated maritime trafficking routes linking South America directly to Europe. Authorities detained four crew members and confirmed the vessel formed part of a broader transnational criminal network operating at sea. Taken together with Trafficking at Scale: Why Narco-Submarines Are No…

Clear Air Force Station was renamed to Clear Space Force Station in June 2021. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Adam Keele. ESS Tech has secured a contract from Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for the deployment of a large capacity energy storage (LCES) system at the US Clear Space Force Station in Alaska. The contract, valued at $9.9m, involves installing up to 27 megawatt-hours (MWh) of ESS’s iron flow battery (IFB) systems to support the station’s operations. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to…

The fight everyone wanted just got the green light. Two atomweight world champions finally collide under the bright lights. ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues defends her crown against ONE Women’s Atomweight Kickboxing World Champion Phetjeeja at ONE Fight Night 41 on Friday, March 13, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium. The event broadcasts live in U.S. primetime on Amazon Prime Video, delivering a dream matchup that fans have been demanding since both women began dominating their respective divisions. Rodrigues enters this defense riding serious momentum. The 27-year-old Brazilian mom-champ has won three straight since her lone…

At 46 years of age, UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber found his way back into the cage just moments ago in the main event of A-1 Combat 31 for a combat jiu-jitsu match against former opponent Francisco Rivera. In a rematch 12 years in the making, Faber was victorious via rear naked choke roughly three-and-a-half minutes into the match.12 years is a long time, so modern fight fans could be forgiven for not knowing the back story here. Way back at UFC 181 on Dec. 6, 2014, Faber defeated Rivera via second-round rear naked choke. In that bout, Rivera…

MMA Fighting has UFC 325 results for the Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 fight card, live blogs of the entire main card, and more from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday afternoon.In the main event, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski puts his belt on the line against Diego Lopes in a rematch. Volkanovski defeated Lopes via unanimous decision at UFC 314 this past April.Dan Hooker clashes with Benoit Saint Denis in a lightweight contest in the co-main event. Hooker has won three of his past five fights, while Saint Denis has posted three straight victories.Check out the UFC 325 results…

Rheinmetall Drone LUNA NG Demonstrates its Capabilities in the Bundeswehr’s New Reconnaissance and Operational Network Rheinmetall successfully participated in a visionary test conducted by the Bundeswehr at the Army Combat Training Centre in Saxony-Anhalt, using its LUNA NG unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system. The test focused on the reconnaissance and operational network. From target detection to counter-measures, only unmanned systems were used, including drones and loitering munitions. Drone swarms are worldwide considered a novelty, and as yet an untested technology in terms of future combat methods of modern armed forces worldwide. Within the Bundeswehr, the LUNA NG reconnaissance drone is…

The United States Army has awarded Raytheon a $1.03 billion contract modification to continue production of the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), according to a contract announcement released this week. The modification covers Year Two production requirements for the LTAMDS program and brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $1,025,100,000. […]

The Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 2.0 (OASuW 2.0) program is underway once again, a Northrop Grumman executive confirmed to Naval News this month at the Surface Navy Association’s National Symposium. The effort brings back a program that originally planned to field the once-cancelled Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive (HALO) missile. The program was not shuttered entirely in April 2024 when the U.S. Navy first confirmed HALO’s cancellation to Naval News. The missile in development was cancelled and the program was restructured and re-evaluated to scope in lower cost, more available weapons as the time to fielding requirements became more urgent. Gordon…