CNN — North Korea must be ready to launch nuclear counter strikes at any time to deter war, state media quoted leader Kim Jong Un as saying on Monday, as he accused the United States and South Korea of expanding joint military drills near the country’s doorstep. Kim’s remarks came after “guiding” combined tactical drills … Read more
CNN — A farmers’ protest party in the Netherlands has caused a shock after winning provincial elections this week just four years after their founding. Could their rise have wider implications? The Farmer-Citizen Movement or BoerburgerBeweging (BBB) grew out of mass demonstrations against the Dutch government’s environmental policies, protests that saw farmers using their tractors … Read more
CNN — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo Thursday for a fence-mending summit, the first such visit in 12 years as the two neighbors seek to confront threats from North Korea to rising concerns about China. Those shared security challenges were on stark display just hours before the trip … Read more
CNN — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday pressed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on accountability for atrocities committed by all parties throughout the yearslong conflict in northern Ethiopia. The secretary of state and the prime minister met for roughly two and a half hours in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa during … Read more
Canberra, Australia CNN — More than a year after the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia dropped the tightly held news they were combining submarine forces, the trio released more details Monday of their ambitious plan to counter China’s rapid military expansion. Under the multi-decade AUKUS deal, the partners will build a combined fleet … Read more
San Diego CNN — President Joe Biden was flanked on Monday by a 377-foot submarine – the USS Missouri – as he announced an accelerated timeline for Australia to receive its own nuclear-powered submarines early next decade. But looming much larger was the increasingly tense US relationship with China, which has emerged as a central … Read more
CNN — China on Sunday appointed a US-sanctioned general as its new defense minister. The country’s rubber-stamp legislature unanimously confirmed the appointment of General Li Shangfu, a veteran of the People’s Liberation Army’s modernization drive, during a session on Sunday. Experts said the appointment would be closely watched by Washington given Li’s background, even though … Read more
Editor’s Note: David A. Andelman, a contributor to CNN, twice winner of the Deadline Club Award, is a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, author of “A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen” and blogs at Andelman Unleashed. He formerly was a correspondent for … Read more
CNN — The US transferred an alleged al Qaeda bomb maker from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, the Defense Department announced Wednesday, part of the Biden administration’s ongoing efforts to close the prison facility. Ghassan Al Sharbi, a 48-year-old Saudi native who has been held in detention at Guantanamo Bay for 20 years, was sent … Read more
CNN — US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told Congress Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to press Taiwan and try to undercut US influence in the coming years as he begins a third term as president. While Beijing has stepped up its public criticism of the US, Haines told the Senate … Read more