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VILNIUS — The future presence of U.S. troops in Lithuania is “under review”, the Baltic country’s defense minister said on Tuesday, adding that although Washington had assured him new rotations would arrive, he did not know when and at what strength.The U.S. is withdrawing thousands of troops based in Germany and Poland as the rift between the administration of President Donald Trump and its NATO allies and partners in Europe over the Iran war widens.In Lithuania, U.S. troops presently stationed in the country are now leaving as expected, but the next scheduled group is not arriving, Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas…

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — As unmanned aircraft systems reshape modern warfare, the 10th Mountain Division is positioning itself at the forefront of the Army’s effort to train Soldiers to fight, survive and adapt on a drone?saturated battlefield. The division’s Mountain Innovation Systems Lab is producing drone components on post, reducing reliance on external suppliers and accelerating experimentation. Using those systems, the newly established Counter?Unmanned Aerial Systems (C?UAS) Academy trained Soldiers at Fort Drum from May 11–15, 2026, marking a major step in preparing units for emerging threats. To meet challenges posed by near?peer adversaries, the Army is expanding training programs…

Iran Press TV Tuesday, 02 June 2026 12:30 AM The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force, Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani, has warned that the Bab al-Mandab Strait will be subjected to the same traffic restrictions as the Strait of Hormuz if the Zionist regime continues its crimes in Lebanon and Gaza under American protection. In a statement issued on Tuesday, General Qa’ani said that the mischief of the Zionists in southern Lebanon and Gaza, carried out with the blatant support of the United States, will compel the Axis of Resistance to expand its backing for both fronts,…

The presence of more than 2,000 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., since Aug. 2025 has had “no measurable effect on violent crime,” according to a new report by the Niskanen Center.The researchers described the deployment as “an expensive tool” used in “the wrong places for the wrong types of crime.” They cited the $607 average daily cost per Guard member in the nation’s capital, compared with $384 in pay for Metropolitan Police Department officers. “The National Guard was deployed primarily in high-visibility public spaces, exactly the locations where opportunistic property crime tends to occur and where visible deterrence is…

On May 26, India hosted a formal meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad — comprising the United States, Australia, India, and Japan. Since its initial creation in 2007 and revival in 2017, foreign policy analysts have debated the usefulness of the organization, which was designed as a group of democratic states that could work together to counter growing Chinese power and influence. Under the second Trump administration, some analysts have expressed growing pessimism about the group’s effectiveness, given the president’s apparent lack of interest in attending a meeting with heads of state. Nonetheless, U.S. Secretary of State Marco…

Niharika Pandit is Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Society and Environment, Queen Mary University of London. She co-runs Insurgent Knowledges, an anticolonial feminist political education collective, and co-convenes BISA’s Colonial, Postcolonial, Decolonial working group. She is the author of Occupying the Everyday: Militarisation and Gendered Politics of Living in Kashmir (Oxford University Press 2026). Where do you see the most exciting research/debates happening in your field? My research is located in political sociology, gender and feminist studies, post/decolonial theory, and critical international relations. It is driven by a central intellectual commitment: to reconceptualise power, violence, and resistance by…

The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) is progressing a long-term fleet renewal programme that will reshape the service’s force structure, training model, infrastructure, and sustainment architecture over the next two decades. Speaking at the recent Combined Naval Event 2026 conference in Farnborough, Commodore Brendon Clark, Co-Director Maritime Fleet Renewal, said the programme was a “once in a generation opportunity” to transform the navy and deliver a “modern combat-capable fleet” supported by both crewed and uncrewed systems. “It will be the largest capability and transformation programme ever undertaken by our defence force,” he said. The Maritime Fleet Renewal effort is being…

The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Tuesday evening said “U.S. forces successfully defeated multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones” in attacks launched at allies Kuwait and Bahrain. Iran said the strikes were in response to U.S. attacks. This is yet another round of tit-for-tat strikes that have become something of regularity since the ceasefire deal was reached between the U.S. and Iran. In a post on X, CENTCOM said “Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors; however, all failed to hit their intended…

It didn’t take long for Daniel Marcos to find a new MMA promotion to call home.Three days after MMA Fighting reported Marcos had parted ways with the UFC after completing his deal, the 33-year-old Peruvian bantamweight announced on social media he has signed a contract with the Professional Fighters League.PFL has yet to announce a date and opponent for Marcos’ debut.Marcos’ departure from the UFC was a surprising one considering his success inside the octagon. “Soncora” joined the company after beating Brandon Lewis at Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022 and then suffered only one loss in seven UFC bouts.Apart…

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. Subscribe here.The U.S. military is pushing to demonstrate high-energy laser weapons engineered for fielding at scale in the next two years, according to the U.S. Defense Department’s top science and technology official.Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee on May 19, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)) Emil Michael told lawmakers that the science of laser weapons “is largely done.” The Pentagon, he added, is now focused on addressing the engineering challenges that…