Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

PFL Africa is making its return to Morocco on Oct. 10 at Mohammed V Sports Complex in Casablanca.Headlining the card will be the heavyweight showdown pitting Abdoulaye Kane against Badr “Dastan” Medkouri. Kane (5-2) and Medkouri (9-3) have combined for 12 knockouts in 14 wins, with half of them coming within the first frame. In addition, four divisional semifinals will be featured across the lineup in Bantamweight, Welterweight and Lightweight tournament bouts.Winners from each bout will advance to the PFL Africa finals later this year.The PFL Morocco co-main event pits unbeaten Algerian-Canadian Karim “The Kryptonian” Henniene against Nigeria’s Raphael Uchegbu.…

Editor’s note: This op-ed was authored by an active-duty sailor who requested anonymity due to concerns about potential retribution. Military Times confirmed the sailor’s identity and granted anonymity for the author to express their views freely.I have never deployed for the United States Navy. As an active-duty sailor, saying that feels disingenuous. My time in the Navy has only been on shore duty. My understanding of deployment comes mostly from hearing other sailors’ stories: months away from family, long watches, missed holidays, repetitive days, port calls and the odd feeling of watching life go on from afar. But those of…

An uncrewed surface vessel and a crewed platform work together at the RNLN’s MUST (maritime uncrewed sea trials) activity in the North Sea in June. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)The Netherlands Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched the design stage for an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) that will support the Royal Netherlands Navy’s (RNLN’s) new anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates.The RNLN plans to procure up to four new crewed ASW frigates, under what is known as the ASWF programme (with this programme being produced in partnership with the Belgian navy). The first new Dutch ship is scheduled to enter service in 2033.Across…

Ian Machado Garry is very confident that he’s going to shock the world and dethrone Islam Makhachev to become welterweight champion in the UFC 330 main event.While he’s staying laser focused on the fight ahead of him on Saturday, the Irish welterweight addressed the current state of the welterweight division where there are a number of fighters all jockeying for the next shot at the title. That includes rising star Michael Morales, who is scheduled to weigh in as the backup for the UFC 330 title fight but Garry says ultimately there’s really only one person actually deserving of a…

Ian Garry is listed at 6’3” with a 74” reach, giving him a considerable size advantage over reigning welterweight champion Islam Makhachev, who clocks in at 5’10” with a 70” reach. But “The Future” didn’t appear to be much bigger when they came face-to-face earlier this week in “The City of Brotherly Love.”“He was wearing high heels, he was wearing stilettos,” Garry said during the UFC 330 media day. “Wait until you see Friday night, when we are both wearing the same shoes because we are obligated to wear the same shoes. Watch, wait, and see then.”“No, it’s regular shoes,…

The National Coordination Center will create a program allowing authorized U.S. companies to conduct cyber operations against transnational criminal organizations at the direction of the federal government, according to a memorandum signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Program executive directors from the departments of Homeland Security and Justice will have the authority to greenlight companies’ cyber operations unless the authorization would result in a loss of life, serious injury or “rise to the level of use of forced or armed attack under international law.”The federal government would vet and conduct oversight of authorized companies, which would need to enter into…

Recently, Veterans: Napoleonic Wars, a real-time wargame being developed by Tactical Boar, has been involved in quite a pickle. Hailed as one of the most anticipated strategy games of the latest Steam Next Fest, the game disappeared from Steam suddenly, leaving players wondering what had happened and sparking a lot of online commentary about it. Given the apparent interest in the topic and the game, I reached out to the Tactical Boar team to ask them for details on what and why this happened. I also asked them about the commentary floating online about the usage of AI-generated assets, and…

VIENNA — Russian state-aligned military forces operating in the Central Sahel relied on at least 75 flights by military and military-linked aircraft between January 2025 and July 2026, according to a new analysis by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington-based research organization that tracks illicit networks.The report, published Wednesday, examined Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data sourced from FlightRadar24 for aircraft models historically linked to Russian private military contractors or the Ministry of Defense, filtering for flights touching Mali, Burkina Faso or Niger.Burkina Faso received the most flights of the three countries, at 56, followed by 38 to Mali,…

The top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee is seeking a hearing on the state of federal statistical agencies, following a report documenting deep staffing cuts and leadership vacancies. Citing “alarming” data in a recent report from the American Statistical Association, Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott, D-Va., is asking the committee’s chairman, Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., to give members “the opportunity to explore the hard choices these agencies have had to face as they absorb these cuts and do more with less.” Scott’s requested hearing would focus on three statistical agencies that fall under the committee’s purview – the Agriculture…

Introduction  Since Fall 2024, actors affiliated with the Russian state have been responsible for, or associated with, a growing series of disruptive incidents near the Baltic Sea. The incidents, conducted by an increasingly militarized shadow fleet of commercial vessels, involve various forms of territorial violations, disruptions in commerce, and acts of intimidation directed against countries bordering the sea. The increasingly aggressive maritime “grey zone” operations have become more sophisticated in recent months and have coincided with a more militant Russian posture toward Baltic members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While Russia has a long history of hybrid warfare…