International

Trump Orders Pentagon to Scale Back South Korea War Games, Citing Kim Jong Un Ties, Rattling Allies From

 Seoul to Tokyo

Background
The United States and South Korea have conducted large-scale joint military exercises for decades as the backbone of a mutual defense treaty dating to 1953, intended both to maintain interoperability between the roughly 28,500 American troops stationed on the…

Somalia's Constitutional Crisis Deepens as Puntland Seizes Federal Bases, Testing Fragile Federation

MOGADISHU, Somalia 

Somalia's monthslong standoff between the Federal Government of Somalia and the semiautonomous state of Puntland escalated further this month when Puntland security forces seized control of three military bases previously aligned with Mogadishu, consolidating the state's grip on security…

Zambia's Disputed Election Spirals Into Crisis as Opposition Leader Alleges Military Raid, Vote Count Drags On

LUSAKA, Zambia 

Three days after Zambians cast ballots in a presidential election billed as a referendum on President Hakainde Hichilema's economic recovery program, the country once regarded as one of southern Africa's most stable multiparty democracies is grappling with a nationwide count…

Burkina Faso's Junta Escalates Crackdown on Civil Society as Watchdog Downgrades Country to 'Repressed'

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso  

Burkina Faso's military government has spent 2026 dismantling what remains of the country's independent civic life at a pace that international rights monitors say is unmatched since the junta seized power nearly four years ago, culminating this month in a formal downgrade by the global…

Deadliest Strikes Since the Truce: Israel Kills 11 in Southern Lebanon as Hezbollah Vows Retaliation

Background

The latest violence in southern Lebanon is the sharpest test yet of a ceasefire architecture that has been built, unraveled and rebuilt several times since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah reignited in March 2026. A previous ceasefire, reached in November 2024 after more than a year of war, was fragile…

Trump Vows to Declare the Strait of Hormuz a US 'Territory' as the Iran War Grinds Toward Its Sixth Month

Background

Since February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel have been at war with Iran, a conflict that opened with a wave of joint American-Israeli strikes on Iranian military, nuclear and government sites, including the killing of longtime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran's response was immediate and consequential…