Smuggling
BUSINESS
The Rome-Moscow Connection: How Italy and Kyrgyzstan are Keeping Russian Trade Alive
While Europe builds a wall of sanctions against Russia, Italy has found a backdoor, shipping goods through the mountains to Kyrgyzstan.
BUSINESS
Troubled Waters: Return of Piracy and Somalia’s Governance
With fishing nets coming up empty and governments in conflict, the line between Somali fishermen and pirates is once again dissolving into the sea.
BUSINESS
Submarines in the Atlantic: Europe’s Invisible Drug Frontier
Portuguese authorities intercepted a semi-submersible vessel carrying 1.7 tonnes of cocaine in March 2025, exposing how traffickers adapt to Europe's maritime geography.
BUSINESS
The UAE and the RSF: Mercenaries, Minerals, and Might
Part 3 exposes UAE backing, Colombian mercenaries, and gold looting as RSF commit genocide in Sudan’s El Fasher camps.
EXCLUSIVE
Chameleon Diplomacy: Qatar and UAE Compete in the Horn
Qatar and the UAE vie for influence in Somaliland, with commentary from Moustafa Ahmad and Dr Andreas Krieg.
Popular
Winter Storm Research Rewrites a Witch Trial Tragedy
As new research published in Smithsonian Magazine this week connects a 1617 Arctic storm to Norway's deadliest witch trials, climate historians reveal how weather shock fed decades of persecution.
Prediction Takes Politics: Prophets and Polymarkets Collide
As 11 Peruvian shamans predicted Nicolás Maduro's fall on 29 December 2025, crypto traders were placing similar bets online—five days before U.S. forces extracted the Venezuelan leader to New York.
Mladenov Takes Over Gaza Board After Regional Veto
Nickolay Mladenov becomes Gaza peace board head after Arab states blocked Tony Blair, raising questions about whose interests guide Washington's selection.
Abu Dhabi Rebuffs British Universities Over Campus Radicalisation
The world’s wealthiest patrons now view Western campuses as hazards, forcing a costly inversion of the traditional hierarchy that once defined global education.
Bury the Lead: MTV ‘Death’ and the Way We Read Now
As MTV continued broadcasting across the United States and most of Europe on 1 January 2026, millions of social media tributes mourned a channel that had never actually shut down.
