Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Russia’s mass deportation of Ukrainian children is a crime against humanity, a new United Nations investigation has found. Published this week by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the report concluded that following the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Kremlin officials “at the highest level” have overseen large-scale deportations from occupied regions of Ukraine targeting thousands of Ukrainian children. The report provides fresh insights into Russia’s comprehensive wartime program of child deportations. Moscow is accused of abducting tens of thousands of Ukrainian children since 2022 and forcibly transferring them to Russia as part of a…

Fed up with how he’s being treated, Colby Covington has lashed out at the UFC.’Chaos’ is a long-term servant of the mixed martial arts, spending almost 12 years competing inside the octagon, and a further two years on the regional scene. During his time with the UFC, the 38-year-old has been known as a company man, one who would never speak a bad word about his employers and would always put the promotion first, until now.Colby Covington has grown tired of his role as a fighter in recent years. As he approaches the latter stages of his career, Covington has…

📷: HYROX MEXICO (@hyroxmx) HYROX continues its global expansion this week as HYROX Cancún 2026 prepares to take place from March 13–15 at Malecón Tajamar, marking the first time the international fitness racing competition will be staged outdoors on Mexico’s Caribbean coast. Organisers expect the event to attract more than 10,000 athletes and over 30,000 visitors, transforming the waterfront venue into one of the largest hybrid fitness gatherings in the region. The event will be held at Malecón Tajamar, a scenic waterfront location in Cancún that offers a unique backdrop for competitors tackling the demanding HYROX race format. Local officials…

Blast From The Past – The Mojave Travel Shirt from Beyond Clothing We are reach by way back into the SSD archives for this one. In May of 2010 we first wrote about a “Travel Shirt” whipped up by Beyond Clothing founder Scott Jones in 2009. This “Travel Shirt” was originally a one-off that he made for himself. It is a waist length design with mandarin collar, chest and sleeve pockets made from a lightweight material. It almost has a Star Wars vibe. I harangued him about it and eventually he added it to the line up at Beyond. Now…

Over the last 15 years, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have become a relevant player in world politics. The origins of the bloc can be traced back to a 2001 Goldman Sachs report that highlighted the economic potential of Brazil, India, China, and Russia. With South Africa’s inclusion in 2011, the BRICS have since become an active and increasingly powerful actor in global affairs, aiming to represent the “voice” of the Global South. Led by China’s unrelenting rise in global trade, infrastructure finance, investment, technological innovation, and thirst for natural resources, the bloc has been seen…

As part of our ‘What does good look like series,’ we turn to invoice processing. Invoice processing is often where procure-to-pay maturity is most visibly assessed. Organizations track touchless processing rates, straight-through processing percentages, cycle times and cost per invoice to gauge progress. These metrics are useful, but they are incomplete. They emphasize efficiency on standard invoice flows while obscuring where operational effort, risk and cost increasingly concentrate. As automation improves, maturity is less defined by how many invoices flow through untouched and more by how effectively the system absorbs complexity when they do not. Early AP automation was designed to eliminate manual effort on the ‘happy path.’  Invoices that matched purchase orders within…

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Days after the United States and Israel started a war against Iran on Feb. 28, the Lebanese Cabinet banned any military activities of Iran-backed Hezbollah, requiring the armed group to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state. The decision followed Hezbollah’s launch of a barrage of missiles toward northern Israel, the first such attack since the ceasefire of late 2024.But enforcing the ban has proven difficult.Hezbollah’s missile attacks, in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have unleashed a punishing response from Israel that could further weaken the government and even lead…

During the presentation of the Leonardo Industrial Plan 2026-2030, the company CEO, Roberto Cingolani provided more details about the Michelangelo Dome, the layered air defence system unveiled last November, and how the latter will be instrumental to the growth of the group, enabling an estimate €6 billion business opportunities in the 2026-2030 period, followed by €15 billion in the 2031-2035 timeframe click on image to enlarge Since its unveiling in November 2025, the Michelangelo Dome concept and connected development programme is running at full pace, according to the Leonardo CEO, to catch with the requests coming from crisis and war-like…

European External Action Service (EEAS) 13.03.2026 Geneva Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva United Nations Human Rights Council 61st session Interactive Dialogue with Commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic 13 March 2026 EU statement Mr President, The European Union thanks the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) for its latest report. An independent CoI remains essential at this stage of the Syrian transition. The longstanding documentation by the CoI of violations of international human rights law constitutes a valuable resource that can support victim‑centred accountability — a fundamental pillar of sustainable peace and…

Ukraine is giving international partners and defense companies access to its vast trove of real combat data to train artificial intelligence models for autonomous drone systems — a move Kyiv is calling “the first initiative of its kind in the world.”Officials approved a resolution this week launching a new cooperation framework between the state, domestic defense companies and foreign partners, the Ministry of Defense announced Thursday. “The future of warfare belongs to autonomous systems,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote in a release announcing the program. “Our objective is to increase the level of autonomy in drones and other combat…