Scribd

North Korea lit some nasty fireworks on July 4th, successfully testing a long-range missile capable of hitting Alaska. The test sent jitters up the spines of American national security officials—for good reason. The Hermit Kingdom hasn’t yet been able to put a nuclear warhead atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, but it is getting there faster than intelligence analysts expected. All the trend lines are bad. Yields from North Korea’s nuclear tests are getting larger. Its arsenal is too, with an estimated 20-25 weapons already, and enough fissile material to crank out a new nuke about eve

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated soldiers in Mosul on Sunday and declared victory over the Islamic State. The announcement formally brings nine months of fighting to a close and signals the recapture of the largest city held by ISIS. But it is far from an end to fighting against the militants. Even on the edges of the city, Reuters reported that gunfire and mortar shells could be heard while Abadi gave his statement, a reminder that it will still be some time before ISIS is completely removed from the city, and even longer from the country. Abad was dressed in the black milit