Joseph Hammond

Somali pirates stage comeback with Houthi support

Somali pirates are again stalking commercial shipping in the Indian Ocean, but this time they are not operating alone. U.S. and regional security officials warn that pirate gangs are coordinating with Iran-backed Houthi militants and terrorist groups operating in the Horn of Africa.

December 17, 2025

Trump remarks aside, U.S. forces, Somali allies hunting terrorists in Africa

President Trump's scornful dismissal last week of Somali immigrants -- they've "contributed nothing" to the U.S., he said -- created a stir in Washington, but in the long-troubled African nation itself, officials brushed off the controversy. They're focused instead on the country's surprising new partnership with the U.S.

December 9, 2025

Weaponized weather emerges as new hybrid warfare tool

Analysts who have been tracking Russia's widespread and increasingly elaborate hybrid war campaign against Europe -- including espionage plots, sabotage attacks and waves of drone incursions over sensitive sites -- are warning that Moscow is working on another weapon to deploy against adversaries: the weather itself.

November 28, 2025

Dubai Air Show underscores renewed U.S. and world interest in Middle East

This year's Dubai Air Show drew robust attendance and displays from U.S. defense industry companies large and small, as well as participation from more than 150 other nations in a sign that the Mideast market continues to be a core focus of the global aerospace industry.

November 23, 2025

Trump doubles down on threat of military action in Nigeria to protect Christians from attacks

President Trump's threat to send U.S. forces into Nigeria to protect Christians from deadly militant groups has drawn cautious praise and more than a little wary concern from religious and political leaders in Africa's most populous country.

November 6, 2025

Why Margaret Thatcher still matters — in Washington as much as Westminster

The 100th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's birth is being marked in the United Kingdom and around the world with a series of events celebrating the influence of the first woman to be British prime minister.

October 26, 2025

Wave of knife attacks underscores Germany’s struggle to assimilate refugees

A brutal August knife attack on an American who stepped in to defend young women from harassment on a train in Dresden, Germany, has reignited a fiery debate over immigration policies that increasingly have become the focus of national elections.

October 12, 2025

From the Arctic to the Sahel: How Russia uses migration to pressure the West

Moscow is helping to fuel a wave of illegal migrants trying to gain entry to the EU as part of an organized campaign to undermine European leaders and distract NATO allies of Ukraine, according to intelligence officials and analysts following Europe's growing immigration crisis.

October 7, 2025

Mexican cartels, under new pressure from U.S. crackdown, turn to Europe

European law enforcement agencies are on alert as the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's oldest and most powerful drug syndicates, expands its criminal empire across the Atlantic.

September 29, 2025

Pro-democracy advocates worried over Trump overtures to Putin-friendly Belarus

From North Korea's Kim Jong-un to Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Trump has shown a willingness to negotiate with even the world's most oppressive leaders -- and it's no different for Alexander Lukashenko , the iron-fisted 71-year-old authoritarian who has ruled Belarus since 1994.

September 27, 2025

Anti-migrant fervor, security concerns force leftist European leaders to get tougher on immigration

Europe rejected President Trump's bombastic warnings on unchecked immigration -- "Your countries are going to hell" -- during his speech this week at the U.N. General Assembly, but leaders across the continent are hearing increasing complaints from angry voters about open borders.

September 25, 2025

Japan sending fighter jets to Europe in historic post-WWII military deployment

Japan is sending fighter jets to Europe in its boldest military deployment since World War II.

September 11, 2025

European conservatives sound alarm over Brussels-led crackdown on ‘disinformation’

Conservatives and right-wing populists warn a new European Union initiative could become state-controlled speech police.

September 11, 2025

Mauritania, resource-rich Islamic nation, weighs economic boost from joining Trump’s Abraham Accords

Two decades after severing ties with Israel, the western African nation of Mauritania is poised to play a key role in kickstarting the stalled Abraham Accords -- a major diplomatic initiative of President Trump.

September 11, 2025

NATO’s 5% defense mandate exposes Europe’s creative accounting

Under the terms of a new agreement, NATO members are on the hook to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. European leaders, however, are scrambling to meet -- or at least appear to meet -- the new benchmark.

September 8, 2025

Estimated 7,000 Cuban mercenaries fighting for Russia in war on Ukraine

No country other than North Korea has contributed more manpower to Russia's armed forces than the estimated 7,000 Cuban mercenaries fighting and dying in the war in Ukraine.

August 28, 2025