Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

INDIANAPOLIS — The Temptations may have “the month of May,” but so do many Hoosiers, race fans, and Indiana National Guard soldiers and airmen.From the first Saturday in May, when the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon helps rev up the month, to the Indianapolis 500 and Memorial Day events honoring America’s fallen service members, Hoosier Guardsmen play an integral role in the festivities, ceremonies and remembrances that define May in Indiana.“Memorial Day … is a day to reflect on the lives given in service to this nation — not in the abstract, but in the very real absence felt by families, friends,…

Herstal, Belgium – 2 June 2026 FN – the iconic brand of FN Browning Group’s Defence & Security division, which includes FN Herstal, FN UK and FN America – is proud to introduce the FN ARKA®, a next-generation rifle platform that leverages AR-15 ergonomics to meet the demands of modern military and law enforcement professionals. Backed by over 135 years of expertise in small arms design and manufacturing, and inheriting the unique rifle development legacy of the iconic FN® FAL and FN SCAR®, the FN ARKA® provides great versatility for armed forces, police, and security services, delivering highly performant, intuitive,…

In late February 2026, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to foreign shipping. What began as a chaotic wartime closure has, in the past few days, hardened into something more consequential: an official sovereign toll regime, codified in Iranian law, and priced in cryptocurrency.On May 18, Iran operationally launched the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a formal state bureaucracy with its own internet domain (pgsa.ir), account on X, and contact email. Since then, Tehran has delineated a “management supervision area” across the strait and announced a transit-permit scheme that converts Hormuz from an international waterway into a vetted toll plaza.Under the…

PRAGUE, Czech Republic–A small but growing number of European officials and analysts are saying what four years ago was unthinkable: Ukraine isn’t just surviving its grueling war with Russia, it is in some ways thriving and may even be on a path to victory.This isn’t yet captured in headlines—for example, about last weekend’s barrage of Russian drones and missiles around Ukraine—but in the details, like how some 90 percent were intercepted.Several long-term trends have shifted in Ukraine’s favor, and the core reason is its fierce focus on AI and robotics.In the crucible of war, Ukraine has developed drones and ground…

FN – the iconic brand of FN Browning Group’s Defence & Security division, which includes FN Herstal, FN UK and FN America – is proud to introduce the FN ARKA®, a next-generation rifle platform that leverages AR-15 ergonomics to meet the demands of modern military and law enforcement professionals. Backed by over 135 years of expertise in small arms design and manufacturing, and inheriting the unique rifle development legacy of the iconic FN® FAL and FN SCAR®, the FN ARKA® provides great versatility for armed forces, police, and security services, delivering highly performant, intuitive, and mission-ready technology. The FN ARKA®…

On May 8, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan broke a grueling six-month stalemate by passing a landmark $25 billion defense budget, catching many observers off guard. The vote brought sudden end to an agonizing legislative deadlock that had pushed U.S.-Taiwanese relations to the edge. For months, long-simmering frustration in Washington over Taiwan’s defense trajectory has threatened to boil over, catalyzed by an unprecedented bipartisan open letter from U.S. senators, demanding that Taiwan authorize the pending defense packages. The optics grew even more fraught as Cheng Li-wun, the newly elected chairwoman of the Kuomintang, Taiwan’s largest opposition party, embarked on a controversial “peace”…

Colby Covington is finally getting his wish on July 18 when he faces Arman Tsarukyan in the main event at RAF 11 in Milwaukee but why exactly is this the match he wanted so badly he was willing to retire from the UFC to get it?Because the UFC has reportedly shut down active fighters facing each other in wrestling matches, Covington took the necessary step to tell the promotion he was calling it a career so he could be more active with RAF. On Saturday, Covington scored an impressive 5-4 win over former UFC champion Chris Weidman, who is a…

Studio Atma’s new sci-fi RPG trades standard menus for execution-heavy combos.Studio Atma has announced Gravastar, a sci-fi fantasy JRPG in development for PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. A release date has not been confirmed yet, and below is everything I know about it so far.The project comes from Seattle-based indie developer Studio Atma, a team that has been working around Gravastar in some form for more than a decade.The game is not being pitched as another nostalgia piece with familiar menu battles. Its main hook is a conditional turn-based battle system shaped by 2D arcade…

Tulsi Gabbard’s resignation as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has opened a major vacancy inside the Trump administration’s national security team. Gabbard resigned last week, saying in a resignation letter that she was stepping down to care for her husband, Abraham Williams, after he was diagnosed with “an extremely rare form of bone cancer” and that he would face “major challenges in the coming weeks and months.” Privately, however, multiple reports indicated that her departure followed months of internal tension, political isolation, and growing frustration within the Trump administration over her role in national security policy. Gabbard, when in office…

A mine can hold a valid license and still lose access to finance. A coffee exporter can comply with domestic law and still be locked out of European markets. A cocoa trader can satisfy national regulators and still fail a buyer’s traceability test. Regulation no longer comes exclusively from the state. The market increasingly decides who is credible, who is bankable and who is allowed to trade. This shift reflects a hard truth. Governments and multilateral systems too often fail to enforce the rules they create. Many African states have mining codes, environmental laws, land legislation, forestry rules and labour…