A ship traveling in the Gulf of Aden has come under attack, the latest assault carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attack comes after the U.S. military said early Thursday an allied warship shot down a Houthi missile targeting a vessel the day before near the same area. The Houthis claimed both assaults, which comes after a period of relatively few rebel attacks on shipping in the region over Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In Thursday’s attack, a ship was targeted just over 25 kilometers southwest of Aden. That's according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.

Defense attorney Emil Bove has traced former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s long relationship with Donald Trump early in his cross-examination during the former president’s hush money trial in New York. Bove on Thursday showed how Pecker had flexed his power to help his friend long before the presidential election. Bove says back in 1998, the former publishing executive tried to squelch a negative National Enquirer story about Trump’s then-wife Marla Maples. Though the story was published anyway, Pecker has acknowledged he attempted to stop it. Bove posited that Trump helped drive magazine sales — and Pecker wanted to maintain close access to him.

The Pentagon says the United States will pull the majority of its troops from Chad and Niger as it works to restore key agreements governing what role there might be there for the American military and its counterterrorism operations. The Pentagon spokesman said Thursday the U.S. will relocate most of the approximately 100 forces it has deployed in Chad, and the majority of the 1,000 U.S. personnel assigned to Niger are also expected to depart. Both African countries have been integral to the U.S. military’s efforts to counter violent extremist organizations across the Sahel region. But Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement last month that allows U.S. troops to operate in the West African country.

Ukraine is seeking to reverse the drain of potential soldiers from the country. It has announced that men of conscription age will no longer be able to renew their passports from outside the country. The move late Wednesday comes as Ukraine works to get much-needed new supplies of weapons and ammunition from a huge U.S. aid package to the front line. Millions of Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Poland's defense minister said Warsaw was ready to help ensure “those who are subject to compulsory military service go to Ukraine,” though he did not specify how.

The construction of a new port in Gaza and a U.S military-built pier offshore are underway, but the complex plan to bring more desperately needed food to Palestinian civilians is still mired in fears over security and how the aid will be delivered. A senior U.S. military official told reporters on Thursday the U.S. is on track to begin delivering aid using the new port and pier by early May. Satellite photos show major port construction along the shore near Gaza City, but aid groups say they have broad concerns about their safety and reservations about how Israeli forces will handle security there.