Probe into Qatar secretly securing US nuke and weapons information

Qatar’s regime was hit with a pressing call for US officials to investigate its  alleged threats to American security over its access to sensitive atomic and weapons information on Thursday in a letter from The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP). ISGAP wrote Jennifer M. Granholm, US Secretary of the … Read more

UK slams Putin over use of North Korean missiles in Ukraine – POLITICO

LONDON — Britain accused Russia of using North Korean missiles in Ukraine in an act of “desperation.” The White House on Thursday said it had intelligence indicating “the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea recently provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles,” and that Russian forces had launched “at least one of these … Read more

‘Seething’ Putin hammers Ukraine with massive missile and drone attacks – POLITICO

Russia battered Kyiv and Kharkiv with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least four people and injuring 92 more, after President Vladimir Putin said he was “seething” and would “intensify attacks” on Ukraine. Moscow hit the capital with a combination of Iranian-made Shahed drones and “waves” of missiles for almost six hours, according to the … Read more

China’s Xi says reunification with Taiwan ‘inevitable,’ ahead of crucial vote on island – POLITICO

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country’s reunification with Taiwan was “inevitable” in his New Year’s address on Sunday, just weeks before the self-ruled island holds elections that could reshape relations between the two. “The reunification of the motherland is a historical inevitability,” Xi said; “China will surely be reunified,” according to the official translation … Read more

The year in figures and charts – POLITICO

2023 was marked by crisis, transition and conflict. As the war in Ukraine dragged into its second year, the EU was confronted with yet another conflict on its doorstep: The Israel-Hamas war, which brought fresh instability to the Middle East and exacerbated divisions between EU countries. Europe now heads into a big election year and … Read more

Ukraine digs in as the West stumbles to keep up with Russian war production

“War,” said British philosopher, mathematician and pacifist Bertrand Russell, “does not determine who is right — only who is left.” Those words might be the perfect lens through which to view what probably lies ahead for Ukraine in the coming year as its troops dig in — and dig deep — along a front roughly 960 kilometres wide. … Read more

Drones are changing warfare — the EU needs to catch up – POLITICO

Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. Federico Borsari is a Leonardo Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and a NATO 2030 global fellow. Gordon B. “Skip” Davis Jr. is a non-resident senior fellow at CEPA and served as NATO’s deputy assistant secretary-general for defense investment. Drones have … Read more

The first nail-biter election of 2024: Taiwan – POLITICO

TAIPEI — 2024 will be a bumper year of elections around the world, but one of the first votes on the calendar will also be one of the most hotly contested and consequential: Taiwan, where there are vital strategic interests at play for both the U.S. and China on January 13. If the campaign started … Read more

We are once again at war in the Middle East – POLITICO

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe. It was February 1991, and the crew of the British frigate HMS Gloucester was scrambling, trying to knock out an Iraqi Silkworm missile heading toward the USS Missouri — a World War II-era battleship recommissioned by former United States President Ronald Reagan. The extreme jolt from the … Read more

As U.S., U.K. and EU sanction violent Israeli settlers, Canada hangs back

The Trudeau government still won’t say if it’s considering imposing sanctions on violent Israeli settlers in the wake of travel bans announced by both the U.S. and the United Kingdom in recent days. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said last week that he will recommend EU sanctions as well.  Canada, like its American, British … Read more