Ian Hanke

I enjoy cigars, red wine and sailing.....but I am not smoking or drinking at the moment and I haven't got a yacht at this time either..so life is a bit grim!

[Andrew Greene @AndrewBGreene]

Western Australia’s Premier has expressed concern over the alleged recent harassment of pro-democracy supporters by Chinese officials in Perth, while the Albanese government insists it will continue to stamp out threats of foreign interference https://t.co/yZh9z6rZzD

[Ian Hanke @IanHanke]

Good point

[Michael Babich 🇺🇦 @MichaelBabich]

“You have gotten the wrong lesson from Ukraine. The lesson is not that democracies help other democracies. The lesson is that Ukrainians helped themselves, and other people were then willing to aid them.”

[Visegrád 24 @visegrad24]

Netanyahu on Erdogan:

“The antisemitic dictator Erdoğan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds, supports the Hamas terrorist organization, oppresses his own people and imprisons political rivals, is the last person who can lecture the State of Israel on morality.”

🇮🇱🇹🇷

[Bloomberg Opinion @opinion]

The US annual inflation rate jumped to 4.2%, the highest in more than three years. Subscribe to our free daily newsletter at the link in bio for more charts like this: https://t.co/cJ1NTAhyrf

[Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty]

There are those who would argue that starting the war was a mistake. But choosing to end the U.S. bombing and declare a “cease-fire” that the Iranians violate with metronomic regularity has compounded the mistake. Frustrated Iran hawks have tried to tell the administration that the Iranian mullahs were never going to change, and were stalling for time in the negotiations with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two specialists in Manhattan real estate. The administration had no interest in listening.

It is very difficult to see a path to clear and lasting victory in this war with a president this erratic and negotiators this naïve.

[Praveen Swami @praveenswami]

The strange thing is that this lesson has to be learned generation after generation, by political leaders and military commanders—Afghanistan, Vietnam, all the way back to Athens, as @yarotrof notes.

[John Bolton @AmbJohnBolton]

Forcefully opening the Strait of Hormuz would help restore U.S. credibility and re-establish deterrence against Iranian efforts to open and close the strait like a light switch. Tehran is counting on Trump’s reluctance to resume military activity. If Iran is left able to dominate the Strait, the Gulf Arabs’ economic future is endangered, along with regional peace and security. The decision lies with Trump.

[The Hill @thehill]

"Trump is losing it and must be removed" (@TheHillOpinion)
https://t.co/vqCpvQxBYj

[Mossad Commentary @MOSSADil]

THE URANIUM IS STILL UNACCOUNTED FOR
• They told you it was destroyed.
• They told you it was buried.
• They told you they knew where it was.

But the truth is far more dangerous:
Nobody actually knows the status of Iran’s remaining highly enriched uranium.
And that matters because Iran was reportedly just a decision away from turning that material into weapons-grade fuel and moving toward a bomb.

Now the IAEA Board of Governors has passed a U.S.-backed resolution demanding Iran disclose the status of its remaining enriched uranium stockpiles and allow inspectors to verify them.

[Varney & Co. @Varneyco]

The media is blaming climate change for heat related "risks" to world cup players and fans. Copenhagen Consensus President Bjorn Lomborg (@BjornLomborg) tells us the reality of the situation.

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

The wars in Ukraine — and now, Iran — show that the strong can’t quite do what they want, and the weak don’t always suffer as they must. My analysis of how the new age of empires may have been oversold. https://t.co/HjeZTS0g4X

[Ian Hanke @IanHanke]

This is wonderful

[Visegrád 24 @visegrad24]

The gorilla-philosopher has become an internet star

A 13-year-old male gorilla named Kiyomasa from a Japanese zoo, after quarreling with his partner, went to the corner of the enclosure, sat in the classic pose of Rodin’s “The Thinker,” and immersed himself in deep thoughts.

[Ian Hanke @IanHanke]

Interesting

[Diliman Abdulkader @D_abdulkader]

Yes, deep down Turkey and Erdogan hate Israel. But outside of the rhetoric between the two countries, they still have trade relations that were supposedly suspended by Turkey.

Turkey is putting on a show for its Islamist audience, it views itself as the representative of Muslims in the West.

Turkey’s ultimate dream is to replace Jordan and be the custodian of Jerusalem.

To do this, the Turks use their NATO membership to access the West and its Muslim identity to tap into the Middle East.

In reality, Israel is still using Turkey to import Azerbaijani oil of about 94,000 barrels per day. And although down, due to Turkey’s threat against Israel because of Gaza, Israel imported nearly $1 billion worth of goods from Turkey in 2025.

This might be due to pressure from the U.S. or incentives it was promised by the EU and/or U.S. or even that Turkey’s economy is worsening on a daily basis so it cannot afford to really suspend trade with Israel.

Whatever the reason, the hate is deep stemming from the Turkish side, but practically speaking, both sides rely on one another and for now it’s just that, rhetoric from the top.

[WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 @WarMonitor3]

Russia is starting to build massive military infrastructure near the Baltic nations and Finland intelligence reports suggest up to 115,000 additional troops may be deployed in the near future with bases being expanded or built in:
-Petsamo 10km away from Norway
-Petrozavodsk, Sapornoye, Luzh near Finland.
-Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region near Poland.
-Kirillovskoye and Kandalaksha near the White Sea

[La China @ChinaNipona]

Disney nos vendió la misma animación durante años...

[ian bremmer @ianbremmer]

quite the chart on trump and the economy

[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty @RFERL]

Residents of Russian-occupied Crimea are reporting empty shelves in grocery stores and purchase limits on a number of basic goods.

Russian authorities deny panic buying on the peninsula amid a regional transportation collapse and fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and on the so-called land corridor to Crimea.

By @krymrealii

[Ian Hanke @IanHanke]

Policy makers please take note

[Prof Marewa Glover @MarewaGlover]

Let’s get some facts straight.
New Zealand is not an outlier. The evidence is clear — countries that have allowed adults who smoke access to risk-reduced alternatives are experiencing rapid extraordinary drops in smoking prevalence.
Sweden is down to 4.8%
Iceland is around 6%
Saint Kitts and Nevis daily smoking prevalence is 6.1%
New Zealand is at 6.8%
Norway is at 7–8%
USA at 9.9%! Under 10% for the first time! UK and Finland are around 10–13% mark…

Japan has experienced extraordinary reductions in smoking prevalence — more people now use heated tobacco products (noncombustible) than smoke cigarettes!

Greece has long had one of Europe’s highest rates, but the pace of quitting smoking has picked up sharply post-2020.
• Notable drops: From ~42% in 2020 (Eurobarometer) down to 36% by 2023, then further to ~31.6% daily / 27.5% current in 2024 — a ~10% relative decline in a short window.

This is not an unusual pattern where risk-reduced alternatives to cigarettes are regulated. Other high prevalence countries are seeing faster reductions than the previous Tobacco Control approach which netted glacially slow change.

The outlier and shocking example of failure is Australia proving that prohibition leads to a booming illicit market, cheaper cigarettes and as Australia is discovering, increasing smoking.

[Ian Hanke @IanHanke]

@SincDavidson Yep.

[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 @IAPonomarenko]

Today, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has become as long as the entirety of World War I.

And Russia is still no more capable of defeating Ukraine than it was in 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025,

And it never will be. That question has already been settled.