NEWS BRIEFS: INTERNATIONAL
29 September 2023
(UPI)
The U.S. says North Korea remains a “persistent threat” to global security due to its development of nuclear weapons which could be used at “any stage of conflict.” The assessment is part of a Defense Department update of its Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, which also rates the potential threats posed by China, Russia, Iran and terrorist organizations.
29 September 2023
(Military Times)
General Mark Milley, the outgoing chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has taken “appropriate measures” to protect himself and his family after former president Donald suggested Milley would have been executed for treason “in times gone by” for having talks with Chinese officials. An Arizona Republican member of the House of Representatives echoed Trump’s hyperbole, calling Milley a “traitor.”
29 September 2023
(Defense News)
Derek Chollet, the U.S. State Department Counselor and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, has been tapped by President Joe Biden to become Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, succeeding Colin Kahl who had held the position since April 2021. When Kahl will take over is unknown due to a Republican Senator’s blockade of all senior U.S. military nominations.
29 September 2023
(Defense News)
The U.S. Department of Defense said today that its F-35 Joint Program Office recently completed a long-delayed series of crucial tests which could pave the way for Lockheed Martin to move to full production next year.
28 September 2023
(CNN)
Slovakia, a NATO member since 2004, is about to elect its fifth prime minister in four years and the apparent front-runner is Robert Fico, a Russian sympathizer who says “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” provoked Vladimir Putin into invading Ukraine. Landlocked Slovakia has a 97-kilometre eastern border with Ukraine, which it has supported up to now.
28 September 2023
(Breaking Defense)
The U.S. has approved the sale of 24 Lockheed Martin F-35s to the Czech Republic. The procurement itself is valued at some US$5 billion while an additional $1.5 billion will be spent on airbus upgrades and other related projects.
28 September 2023
(Reuters)
Prime Minister Trudeau apologized September 27 after a Nazi-allied war veteran was formally recognized by then House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota during last week’s visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Embarrassed at home and abroad, the PM also said the government had reached out diplomatically to Ukraine.
28 September 2023
(Breaking Defense)
Taiwan has high hopes for a planned fleet of at least eight submarines, the first of which is being readied for seat trials in October. “If we can build up this combat capacity, I don’t think we will lose a war,” says Admiral Huang Shu-kuang, the program coordinator and national security advisor to President Tsai Ing-wen.
27 September 2023
(CTV)
A 98-year-old Ontario resident is at the heart of a domestic and international political outcry about his Second World War involvement in Nazi Germany’s battle with Russia. The core of the debate is whether Yaroslav Hunka was a patriot or a war criminal who could be extradited.
27 September 2023
(BBC)
Months of “intense diplomacy” have resulted in North Korea’s repatriation of a U.S. Army Private who crossed from South Korea in July. Travis King, handed over in China, is being returned home for what a U.S. official says will be “a re-integration process that will address any medical and emotional concerns.”
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