For Iran, Flexing Control Over Waterway Is New Deterrent

"American military and intelligence officials estimate that, after weeks of war, Iran still has about 40 percent of its arsenal of attack drones and upward of 60 percent of its missile launchers — more than enough to hold shipping in the Strait of Hormuz hostage..." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

That's the way

I spoke to Stars & Stripes about the takeaways for US forces in Europe from Iran's long-range Indian Ocean missile launches last Friday www.stripes.com/theaters/eur...

Stars and Stripes defends its independence amid new Pentagon pressures - Editor and Publisher For generations of service members, Stars and Stripes has been known as the soldiers’ newspaper, funded by the U.S. government but protected by law to report independently on the military it covers. N...

“If you are willing to actually allow and fund to a certain extent a newspaper that you understand will hold you to account at times,” he said, “I think it’s a really wonderful expression of those values in the First Amendment.”

🙌 Thanks, Neil. Hope our paths cross again one day!

Thank you!

Very happy to report that I am now the Europe/Mideast bureau chief for Stars and Stripes. I've long been impressed from afar at the work this outlet has done in communicating to the US military community, and two days in I'm more convinced than ever about the importance of that mission.

South Korea Clears Way for Google Maps to Fully Operate

!!!

North Korea scholar Andrei Lankov detained in Latvia before lecture | NK News North Korea scholar Andrei Lankov was detained in Latvia and expelled from the country on Tuesday, just before the start of a public lecture in Riga. Lankov, a Russian and Australian national, confirm...

“I believe they see my writing style as excessively objective and they see it as a problem,” he said. “I say positive things about North Korea sometimes, and when negative, not in a hysterical style.”

Yoon Suk-yeol has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Front page news here in Taipei:

S Korean crypto firm accidentally pays out $40bn in bitcoin The company quickly realised its mistake and managed to recover virtually all the missing tokens from customers.

A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange planned to give customers a small cash reward of 2,000 won - $1.37 - but instead gave them 2,000 bitcoins on Friday.

Sanae Takaichi targets changes to Japan’s constitution after landslide election win Prime minister says she feels ‘heavy responsibility’ to strengthen country

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has vowed to use her dominance of Japan’s parliament after her huge election win to attempt to amend the country’s constitution for the first time in almost 80 years.

A Danish officer operates a U.S. drone during an exercise at Bemowo Piskie, Poland, Nov. 18, 2025. (Eric Allen/U.S. Army)

POLL: Danish perceptions of the relationship with the United States have taken a stark downturn in the wake of President Donald Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland.

Read more:
www.stripes.com/theaters/eur... #Flashes

We will not stop.

Europe begins its slow retreat from US dependence The EU aims to reduce reliance on America in areas such as technology, energy, payments and defense. That will take some time.

"While it has existed since 2009, the EU’s Article 42.7 mutual defense clause was rarely seen as necessary because NATO’s Article 5 served a similar purpose. But Europe's governments have started to doubt whether the U.S. really would come to Europe's rescue."

Canada should ‘keep our options open’ on acquiring nuclear weapons, former defence chief says Retired general Wayne Eyre told an Ottawa crowd that developing a nuclear deterrent is not an immediate concern, but should be an option

“We will never have true strategic independence, absent our own nuclear deterrent...let’s keep our options open."

Black and white background photo of reporters diligently working in a newsroom, from the Stars and Stripes archives. White text: Opinion: Pentagon wants a 'refocus,' but Stripes hasn't wavered from its true mission. Read the words of our Ombudsman Jacqueline Smith:" Photo of Jacqueline Smith outlined in red. White Stars and Stripes logo.

FROM OUR OMBUDSMAN: Given the overall press restrictions and the moves to take over editorial control of Stars and Stripes, the future of a reputable newspaper that dates to the Civil War is in danger.
Here's what's happening, why & what you can do about it. Gift article🔗: bit.ly/4k7MF6F #Flashes

Denmark's foreign minister on Wednesday: "According to our intelligence, we haven't had a Chinese warship in Greenland for a decade or so."

No, China Isn’t Going to Take Over Greenland Trump’s absurd justification for potential U.S. action is blatantly false.

"The idea that China is ready to seize Greenland at any moment is absurd, and Trump’s claims that Chinese destroyers and submarines are circling the island are blatantly false."

Trump is likely gambling he could get away with Greenland grab as NATO needs US more than he needs it The US president knows no European nation would seriously try to stop him by force - because they would lose.

Trump's threats to take Greenland "should be the final wake-up call for the UK, Europe and Canada never to allow themselves to slide into such a position of profound weakness again."

observingjapan.substack.com/p/nuclear-ta...

Japan gov't affirms no-nuke policy, stays mum on official's nuclear remarks Japan is committed to its non-nuclear principles, the top government spokesman said Friday, downplaying remarks by an official a day earlier supporting possession of nuclear weapons in a deviation fro...

Kyodo, a day later: Japan gov't affirms no-nuke policy, stays mum on official's nuclear remarks

Japan needs to possess nuclear weapons, prime minister's office source says A source within Japan's prime minister's office said Thursday that the country needs nuclear weapons, remarks that deviate from the country's long-standing non-nuclear principles and could trigger bac...

"I think we should possess nuclear weapons...in the end, we can only rely on ourselves."

My Warm Take on the National Security Strategy From the erasure of North Korea to the defense of Taiwan

"This vanishing of North Korea from 2017 to 2025 alone should caution the reader to take this text, whether you see things you like or dislike, with a gigantic grain of salt."

Danish intelligence classifies Trump’s America as a security risk Denmark sounds the alarm about the U.S.’s increasingly antagonistic posture toward Europe.

Denmark’s military intelligence service has for the first time classified the US as a security risk, a striking shift in how one of Washington’s closest European allies assesses the transatlantic relationship.

MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?

NOEM: We haven't deported veterans

MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea

Anybody can change, Scrooge (and so can you)!

China omits 'denuclearization' from newly-released defense white paper China has omitted the phrase “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” from a defense white paper for the first time in 19 years, signaling a possible shift in its position as it competes with the Un...

Instead of the word “denuclearization,” the paper emphasized “resolving the Korean peninsula issue through political means.

Japan frustrated at Trump administration’s silence over row with China Tokyo asks US to be more vocal in its support after Beijing reacted furiously to prime minister’s comments about Taiwan

Japan frustrated at Trump administration’s silence over row with China – FT: ‘Some people said the lack of US support was ironic given that Elbridge Colby, the under-secretary of defence for policy, had pushed Japan to make clear what role it would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.’