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US Expands Strategic Foothold On Somalia's Coast As Yemen Conflict Simmers

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

A US military delegation visited the local government in Somalia's northeastern Puntland region on Sunday and signed a deal to expand the US military presence in Bosaso, a port city on the Gulf of Aden, according to the Puntland government.

Saeed Abdullahi Deni, the president of Puntland State, held talks with a delegation led by Maj. Gen. Claude Tudor, the commander of US Special Operations Command Africa.

Maj. Gen. Tudor and President Deni. Source: Puntland government image

"Puntland and the United States also signed a new agreement to expand their cooperation. Under the agreement, the United States will expand its military base in Bosaso to improve operations against terrorism and to help protect maritime security," the Puntland government said in a statement on the meeting.

The US has been operating from a UAE-built airbase in Bosaso, which the UAE has reportedly used to arm the RSF in Sudan.

An expanded US military presence in Bosaso could be used as a launchpad for operations against Yemen's Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, and the deal comes as Ansar Allah is enforcing a new maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports, which began after Saudi strikes on Yemen’s Sanaa International Airpoirt, attacks that reignited the conflict that was in a state of ceasefire since 2022.

Tudor visited Puntland a day after meeting with officials in Somaliland, a de facto independent state within Somalia’s internationally recognized borders.

It’s unclear if any deals were signed in that meeting, but Israel recently became the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent country and is seeking to establish a military and intelligence presence for operations against Yemen.

According to the Somali Guardian, the US-Puntland deal bypassed the US-backed federal government in Mogadishu, which has been at odds with Puntland amid a political crisis sparked by changes to the constitution made by Somali President Hassan Sheik Mohamud. Puntland withdrew from the federal system in 2024, and this year clashes have occurred between forces loyal to the federal government and Puntland security forces.

The US has continued to back the federal government with airstrikes against al-Shabaab, and it has also been engaged in an air campaign against an ISIS affiliate in Puntland, where it backs local Puntland forces.

via BBC

President Trump has overseen a major escalation in Somalia, launching at least 124 airstrikes in 2025, a record number. The US has launched at least 77 airstrikes in Somalia this year, though the war receives virtually no media coverage in the US.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/05/2026 - 03:30

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Which Countries Think They're On The Right Track?

Public confidence in national direction varies dramatically around the world. Respondents in several Asian countries are broadly optimistic, while majorities across much of Europe and the Americas believe their countries are on the wrong track.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, ranks 30 countries by the percentage of adults ages 16 to 74 who believe their country is moving in the right or wrong direction.

The visualization uses 2026 survey data from Ipsos Global Opinion Polls and covers 25,709 respondents.

Asian Optimism in 2026

Asian countries dominate the top of the ranking, accounting for six of the seven countries where a majority of respondents believe their country is on the right track.

Singapore leads at 86%, followed by Malaysia at 74% and India at 69%. Indonesia and Thailand are tied at 62%, while South Korea stands at 58%.

This table ranks all 30 countries:

CountryApproval of Country Direction (%)Disapproval of Country Direction (%) 🇸🇬 Singapore8614 🇲🇾 Malaysia7426 🇮🇳 India6931 🇹🇭 Thailand6238 🇮🇩 Indonesia6238 🇰🇷 S. Korea5842 🇦🇷 Argentina5545 🇨🇱 Chile4852 🇨🇴 Colombia4654 🇨🇦 Canada4555 🇦🇺 Australia4456 🇵🇱 Poland4357 🇮🇪 Ireland4258 🇯🇵 Japan4159 🇺🇸 U.S.4060 🇮🇱 Israel3664 🇲🇽 Mexico3664 🇧🇷 Brazil3466 🇳🇱 Netherlands3268 🇸🇪 Sweden3169 🇪🇸 Spain3169 🇮🇹 Italy3169 🇧🇪 Belgium3070 🇹🇷 Türkiye2872 🇿🇦 South Africa2377 🇭🇺 Hungary2377 🇩🇪 Germany2377 🇬🇧 Great Britain2179 🇵🇪 Peru1585 🇫🇷 France1090 🌐 World4159

Economic momentum may help explain some of this confidence. The AI boom is supporting major South Korean companies such as Samsung and SK Hynix, while India and Indonesia remain two of the world’s largest emerging markets.

Japan is a notable exception to the broader regional pattern. Following decades of economic stagnation, 41% of Japanese respondents believe their country is on the right track, matching the global average.

Pessimism Outside Asia

Outside Asia, most countries surveyed across Europe, the Americas, and Africa report greater pessimism than optimism.

In the United States, 40% of respondents approve of their country’s direction. Israel and Mexico are tied at 36%, while 34% of Brazilians believe their country is on the right track ahead of national elections in October 2026.

Türkiye stands at 28%, while South Africa is lower at 23%. In Peru, which has had nine presidents in a decade, 85% of respondents believe their country is on the wrong track.

Europe’s Pessimistic Outlook

France ranks last overall, with only one in 10 respondents saying the country is headed in the right direction.

Several of its European neighbors also rank near the bottom. In Great Britain, which has had multiple prime ministers since the 2016 Brexit vote, 79% of respondents believe the country is on the wrong track.

Germany also ranks near the bottom, with just 23% of respondents saying the country is moving in the right direction. Economic weakness and job losses may be contributing to the country’s broader social and political unease.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Visualized: Approval Rating of Global Leaders in 2026 on Voronoi.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/05/2026 - 02:45

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Half Of Foreign Welfare Recipients In Spain Are Moroccan

Via Remix News,

Nearly half of all foreign nationals receiving Spain’s Minimum Living Income (IMV) are Moroccan, according to previously unpublished figures obtained by The Objective through a transparency request.

The National Social Security Institute recorded 139,446 foreign recipients of the benefit, including 69,517 Moroccan nationals.

Foreigners therefore account for approximately half of the nearly 280,000 registered recipients, while Moroccans represent almost 50 percent of the foreign total.

The figures provide the first official nationality-by-nationality breakdown of foreign IMV recipients.

Public statistics had previously distinguished only between Spanish and foreign claimants without identifying their countries of origin.

Romanians formed the second-largest foreign group, with 15,262 recipients, followed by Ukrainians with 4,612.

Colombians accounted for 3,549 recipients, Algerians for 3,362, Italians for 3,043, and Bulgarians for 2,826.

Other recipients included Portuguese, Pakistani, Venezuelan, Brazilian, and Nigerian nationals. More than 100 nationalities were represented overall, alongside 215 people categorized under “other nationalities” and 175 stateless recipients.

The data counts only the registered recipient in each household, rather than every family member supported by the payment. The actual number of people benefiting from the program is therefore higher.

The totals also exclude the Basque Country and Navarre, which administer the Minimum Living Income independently under their special fiscal arrangements.

Social Security data also indicates that around 70 percent of Moroccan women of working age do not formally contribute to Spain’s employment system, reflecting particularly low labor-force participation among that group.

The publication of the figures comes at a politically sensitive time, given the much-reported migrant influx from the Arab country into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

Over 50,000 Moroccans are estimated to have entered the autonomous city illegally within the past week, and the number to have since been returned is heavily disputed.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/05/2026 - 02:00

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