Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is now the first Navy carrier to be equipped with an Unmanned Air Warfare Center that will support the Boeing-made MQ-25A, the first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft.In May, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao announced during a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing that the MQ-25A was moving into the low-rate initial production and deployment phase.The aircraft is intended to relieve the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornets of the aerial refueling role, freeing up F/A-18E/F aircraft to focus on strike missions.The memo, dated April 21, 2026, was recently published by the Pentagon within a Modernized Selected Acquisition Report. It…

GABORONE, Botswana — U.S. Africa Command, in partnership with the Botswana Defence Force, officially commencedExercise Southern Accord 2026 in Gaborone, Botswana. The biennial exercise, running Aug. 10-15, 2026, brings together U.S. and Botswana military personnel to enhance regional security, foster mutual readiness, and increase the operational independence of African partner nations. This year’s iteration features Soldiers and Airmen from the North Carolina National Guard training side-by-side with their BDF counterparts,leveraginga long-standing state partnership. Exercise activities in this iteration of Southern Accord include defensive cyber operations, space operations, military intelligence, the Joint Planning Process, a staff exercise, a rehearsal of concept…

Fragile states, almost by definition, never have it easy. But for the roughly 60 poor countries that lack the capacity to perform basic responsibilities for their citizens, the last year and a half have been especially tough. For decades, these countries have subsided on a lean diet of foreign aid from major donor governments and the United Nations, the World Bank, and other multilateral institutions. Yet under President Donald Trump, the United States—traditionally the world’s largest aid provider—has slashed its assistance. Other major donor states have followed suit, as have multilateral organizations.The cuts are causing serious damage. Foreign aid has…

On November 7, 2025, twenty-year-old Malian TikToker Mariam Cissé was publicly executed by the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen or JNIM—al-Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate. The jihadists shot Cissé in front of a crowd for sharing pro-army videos with her 100,000 followers, and warned that a similar fate awaited other supporters of the military junta. Her killing is one of thousands of deaths in a war running since 2012, when Tuareg separatists rebelled for an independent northern state, al-Qaeda-linked groups seized the major northern cities and imposed Islamic law, and UN peacekeepers and French troops were drawn into stabilization and counter-terror operations. Coups…

Welcome to Midnight Mania!Let’s start the night off by taking a look back over the three biggest stories of Monday, Aug. 10, 2026.We’ve had some bad blood in the boxing vs. MMA world lately, so it’s nice to see King Green and former WBO Welterweight champ Arnold Barboza Jr keeping a nice flow and having fun. Who knew the boxer would be better at boxing and the fighter better at fighting?Can Tanner Boser find a win in his second UFC stint? I wonder if he’d be better off back at 205 pounds.Carlos Prates is picking his former opponent to dethrone…

4030 ELITE bomb suit at US EOD operator demonstration.NP Aerospace, the global armor manufacturer, has formed a strategic partnership with United Shield International, a US manufacturer and specialist provider of advanced ballistic and blast protection solutions for law enforcement and military customers. The partnership brings together two complementary businesses that will strengthen the delivery and through-life support for the NP Aerospace 4030 ELITE Bomb Suit and Helmet System across the US law enforcement market.The collaboration combines NP Aerospace’s advanced protective technology and EOD suit capabilities with United Shield International’s specialist law enforcement expertise, established customer networks, and dedicated US-based sales…

The U.S. Navy announced new policy guidance for complaints about harassment and discrimination that changes how those complaints will be managed.Anonymous allegations of misconduct that occur in the Navy or Marine Corps will not be processed as a complaint under the Military Equal Opportunity program, which seeks to address unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment, the service announced. Instead, service members are encouraged to use the confidential reporting system, though the anonymous system remains available.“This does not prevent a commander from taking appropriate action in response to an anonymous report,” a Navy administrative message said.The reform follows a September 2025 Pentagon…

Daniel Cormier recently explained why his rivalry with Jon Jones never crossed the line as Conor McGregor’s did with Khabib Nurmagomedov and DC’s team. The rivalry between McGregor and Nurmagomedov was personal. A boatload of incidents spilled outside of fighting, with the bus incident being the most notorious of the lot. To this day, the two fighters never get along. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor (Mandatory Credit: Esther Lin – MMA Fighting) Shedding light on the same in a recent interview was Nurmagomedov’s friend and former teammate Daniel Cormier. The former two-division champ, speaking to ALF Global (in an interview…

The largely self-funded Postal Service is asking for “modest” annual funding from Congress, at least in the short term, to help the agency pay its bills. USPS told lawmakers that it would run out of cash in early 2027, if it kept meeting all of its financial obligations. But the agency now expects to avoid a cash crisis for another few years by suspending its contributions to one of its employee retirement plans. Agency leaders warn these extraordinary measures are just buying USPS more time to deal with what they consider a broken business model. Postmaster General David Steiner said last Friday that…

Chikara Dojo (Melbourne) welcomed renowned Kyokushin fighter and instructor Shihan Nicholas Pettas for a special training session with its students in Australia. The class featured authentic old-school Honbu training conducted entirely in Japanese, giving the Chikara students a taste of the demanding training methods and atmosphere Shihan Nicholas Pettas experienced during his years as an uchi deshi in Japan. Although the students initially struggled with the unfamiliar format, they quickly adapted and worked hard throughout the session, showing great determination and commitment. The training was also a preview of an upcoming special event at Chikara Dojo. On Saturday, August 15,…