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Sune Engel Rasmussen

@suneengel.bsky.social
1.7K followers 755 following 141 posts

Security correspondent for WSJ and author of "Twenty Years: Hope, War and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation". Eyes on war, the Arctic, organized crime and terror. He/him.

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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is how the FlyDubai aircraft plunged two hours into its flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The latest indicates that "one of the pilots stabbed the second pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Israeli PM Netanyahu said. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Drug gangs in Spain have a new tactic: Superfast, powerful speedboats blasting towards the sandy beaches of Costa del Sol with tons of cocaine. Drug traffickers explained to me how outrunning cops like this allows cartels to make more money than ever. My investigation: www.wsj.com/world/americ...
wsj.com
Cocaine Smugglers Blow Past Europe’s Law Enforcement With Speedboats and Tech
Fleets outrun Spanish authorities to deliver the drug in unmatched quantity and quality.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Greenland deal doesn’t deliver the control Trump wanted, but raises hopes of more investment and less stigma around working with America. My story: www.wsj.com/world/trumps... #greenland #denmark
wsj.com
Trump’s Greenland Deal Eases Way for U.S. Business on Arctic Island
The agreement doesn’t deliver the control he wanted, but it raises hopes of more investment and less local stigma around working with America.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
We don't know the text of the #Greenland deal yet but it appears clear that it represents a significant climbdown for Trump. Crucially, Denmark and Greenland concede no sovereignty, which was always a red line, even over base areas.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Irish waters are more poorly defended than almost anywhere else in Europe. A growing number of Russian shadow fleet vessels pass through here, as do 75% of all trans-Atlantic subsea cables, which are vulnerable to sabotage. Our story, from a patrol w the Irish navy www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
Russia’s Shadow Fleet Is Sailing in NATO’s Blind Spot: Irish Waters
A growing number of suspected Russian shadow fleet ships regularly ply waters near Ireland that hold many crucial undersea cables.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
@michaelhobbes.bsky.social long-time listener here. I’m working on a project I’m keen to interview you for. What is the best way to reach you? Alternatively, email me at sune.rasmussen at wsj .com
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Once again, I am snubbed #ballondor www.nytimes.com/athletic/liv...
nytimes.com
Men's Ballon d'Or nominees in full (Gift Article)
45 minutes later and we know which 30 players are on the shortlist for the 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or — here are all the nominees:Jude Bellingham (23, Real Madrid and England)Pau Cubarsi (19, Barcelona a...
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
European airspace is now an active front line. See how (and which) drones are infiltrating European NATO territory: www.wsj.com/world/see-ho...
wsj.com
See How Drones Are Infiltrating NATO Territory in Europe
Almost every week this summer brought new reports of drone incursions over the alliance’s eastern frontier—the airspace over which is now a front line.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The surprise visit by CIA director John Ratcliffe to Moscow was to deliver a warning to Russia not to attack NATO countries. WSJ previously reported that Putin could try to test the resolve of NATO with a limited assault on an allied country in the next few years. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Exclusive | CIA Chief’s Surprise Moscow Trip Was to Warn Russia Not to Attack NATO
The warning comes after new U.S. intelligence assessments indicated the Russian president could launch a limited assault.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
For all of maritime history, shipping cargo through the Arctic made no sense. That is changing. War, oil prices and climate change are flipping the math, and a Chinese company is setting out to reap the benefits. Our story: www.wsj.com/world/china-...
wsj.com
China Is Opening the First Regular Cargo Route Through the Arctic
Sending containerships through the northern passage now makes financial sense thanks to high oil prices and climate change.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Of course everyone would have an opinion about AOC's choices about her own body. www.wsj.com/politics/aoc...
wsj.com
Essay | AOC’s Egg Freezing Is Suddenly a Bipartisan Conversation
After an initial wave of backlash, the New York congresswoman’s videos of her fertility journey have generally been applauded by women on both sides of the aisle.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
What a tragedy. Jason Arday has been found dead, nine days after he resigned over plagiarism claims. Cambridge University says it is "desperately saddened". He is survived by a wife and two children. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Jason Arday found dead after resigning from Cambridge over plagiarism claims
Academic was pronounced dead at his home in south London after police called to address after 3pm on Friday
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Drone incursions like these have become a near-weekly occurrence this summer, and add to anxiety among NATO members that Russia will test the alliance’s resolve www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
NATO Jet Downs Drone as Concerns Grow Over Russia Threat
Latvia’s military said the incursion of the unmanned aerial vehicle was caused by Russian electronic warfare.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Daniel Kinahan, the suspected leader of one of the world’s most feared crime syndicates, with links to Mexican and Colombian cartels as well as Hezbollah, is set to arrive in Dublin tonight www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
Alleged Irish Crime Boss Extradited From U.A.E., Ending Yearslong Hunt
Daniel Kinahan, one of the world’s most wanted criminals, lived in Dubai for a decade before his arrest earlier this year.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Palestinians feel "terror," as Israeli settlers push to expand territory, encouraged by Netanyahu www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Settlers Torch Mosques and Villagers Guard Homes: West Bank Violence Is Surging
A deadly clash sparked fresh attacks on Palestinian villages in what critics say is a push to expand Israeli territory.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
NATO's arms race relies on drones, computing power - and cotton. And it doesn't have enough. My latest story on guncotton, a key chemical material in virtually all modern ammunition systems. Europe has for centuries relied on China for it, and that's now a problem. www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
Wanted for Rearming Against Russia and China: More Cotton
To fire big ammunition, militaries need explosive chemicals derived from natural fibers that suddenly are in short supply.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Jeff Landry, Trump's Greenland envoy, got an icy reception this week from Greenlandic officials who accused him of circumventing official channels. Instead, he met Greenlanders in private homes and cafés. "I don’t want them to see who I’m talking to," he told me. www.wsj.com/world/trumps...
wsj.com
Trump’s Envoy Gets Chilly Reception on First Trip to Greenland
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry brushed off criticism of his visit. Greenland’s leaders accuse him of circumventing official channels.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
The war on Iran has divided the six Arab Gulf states, except on one issue: they unanimously think Israel is trying to drag them into a war, and to exert dominance in the region. Gulf states are now rethinking relations with Israel, and w the US and Iran. My latest: www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Muted U.S. Response to Iranian Attacks Deepens Gulf Fears About Cease-Fire
Persian Gulf states are worried that a negotiated end to the war will leave them exposed to security threats.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
I first investigated Babak Zanjani 10 years ago while I was living in Iran. Now, a decade after being sentenced to death, Iran's most famous sanctions buster has been released and is back in full swing, this time using crypto. My story: www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
How Iran’s Chief Sanctions Buster Went From Death Row to Crypto
Babak Zanjani has emerged at the forefront of Iranian efforts to skirt sanctions after being sentenced to death a decade ago.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Iran suffered way worse destruction during the 40-day war than it did through the 1980-88 war with Iraq. The scale of reconstruction ahead puts pressure on Iran to negotiate sanctions relief. My story: www.wsj.com/world/middle... #trump #israel
wsj.com
Iran’s War-Shattered Economy Means It Has an Urgent Reason to Negotiate
The damage done by U.S. and Israeli attacks will take years to repair and puts pressure on Tehran to seek financial relief in talks.
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Reposted by Sune Engel Rasmussen
NetBlocks @netblocks.org · 16/04/2026
📉 Metrics show the internet blackout in #Iran is ongoing into its 48th day after 1128 hours. The censorship measure, unsurpassed in scale and severity in a connected society, has had an economic impact of ~$1.8bn to date per COST methodology in addition to human rights harms.
Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity in Iran from 24 February 2026 to 16 April 2026. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Iran's connectivity is high through the initial time period, with a sharp drop on the morning of 28 February. The continued drop in connectivity aligns with a nation-scale internet blackout imposed by authorities after joint military strikes by the US and Israel. A brief restoration was observed on 18 March. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 1% and 1%, respectively. The chart has a dark background with a red horizontal arrow labeled 'SHUTDOWN' indicating the disruption period, and the NetBlocks logo in the lower left corner with the Mapping Internet Freedom slogan.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
In side discussions and over dinner meetings in and around NATO, a fallback plan to ensure Europe can defend itself it the U.S. leaves the alliance is gaining traction. The crucial shift is happening in Germany. www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Europe Is Accelerating a NATO Fallback Plan in Case Trump Pulls Out
The Continent is drawing up a contingency for greater European involvement as tensions rise over the Iran war.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Donald Trump is only the latest U.S. president to flirt with owning Greenland I recently travelled across Greenland to find an old abandoned American military base that dates back to the last time the U.S. tried to own the island. My story: www.wsj.com/world/americ...
wsj.com
America Has Wanted Greenland for Over a Century. Trump Isn’t Giving Up.
The remnants of Bluie East Two stand as a reminder of the last time the U.S. tried to own the island.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
"Any deal Trump gets now is worse than the one that was on the table when he decided to blow things up" Sounds about right. www.wsj.com/world/middle... #iran
wsj.com
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
President Trump says it's now up to other countries to secure the Strait of Hormuz. That gives Iran even more power over the strait, and one-fifth of the world's oil. Our story about what makes the strait so tricky, and what securing it would look like. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Trump’s Mission Impossible for Allies: Reopening the Strait of Hormuz
European leaders say forcing the passageway open militarily is unrealistic and more likely to come about through international pressure.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
A recent trial against Antoine "Tony" Kassis, a cousin of Bashar al-Assad, offers a rare window into a trans-Atlantic trade in weapons and drugs between Iranian allies in the Middle East, and cartels and rebel groups in South America. My story for @wsj.com www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Inside the Trans-Atlantic Trade in Iranian Weapons for Colombian Coke
A recent conviction offers a rare window into the illicit global network that brings money into the Islamic Republic.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Interesting piece by @yarbatman.bsky.social who does the math on the Iranian Shahed-136 drones. He concludes the production cost of one Shahed is not $35,000, as is often cited, but roughly $7,000. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/cos...
phenomenalworld.org
Drones Like Bicycles | Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
Assessing the cost of a Shahed kamikaze drone
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
"For now, there is but one certainty—that the hopes and lives of Iranians don’t matter. Not to Israel, not to the U.S., and certainly not to their own regime, gunning them down in the street." Excellent by @rezaian.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/news/the-led... #iran
newyorker.com
A Former Prisoner of the Iranian Regime Watches Trump’s War
A journalist who was wrongfully detained for five hundred and forty-four days never got to say goodbye to Tehran. Now he’s fielding messages about chaos and destruction in the home he left behind.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
This is what it looks like when the U.S. gets bogged down in a Middle East war it thought would be swift. “I think it will take weeks to reach a point where there can be safe operations in the strait... Even then, a lot of the Iranian assets will survive.” www.wsj.com/world/middle... #iran
wsj.com
U.S. War Planes and Helicopters Kick Off Battle to Reopen Hormuz
The effort has taken on new urgency nearly three weeks into the war with Iran, as oil prices soar above $100 a barrel.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen is an international superstar, but at home, her party can expect the worst election in a century. The only thing that helps her w Danish voters is standing up to Trump. The conflict over Greenland has been a lifeline. My profile of her: www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
Trump’s Greenland Pursuit Gives Danish Leader New Lease on Life
Mette Frederiksen is seeking a third term leading the nation of six million people, after getting a polling boost from the president’s push for the territory.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
"America’s Arab allies are now fuming that they don’t seem to have any influence with the Trump administration despite heavy investments of time and money." www.wsj.com/world/middle... #Iran #israel #war
wsj.com
Escalating Attacks on Gulf Energy Assets Plunge Iran War Into New Phase
Strikes targeting infrastructure in Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have put strategic oil-and-gas facilities at the center of the conflict.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Good reminder (if we needed it) that for all the talk of Dubai being a safe haven for business and tourists, the UAE is not a democracy 21 ppl have been charged under UAE cybercrime laws for sharing videos and social media posts relating to recent missile strikes www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
British man charged in Dubai for alleged filming of Iranian missiles
Foreign Office officials are understood to be supporting his family.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Trump might not want Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader of Iran, but the US and Israeli war has helped elevate him, and bolstered his legitimacy. My latest about how Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died a martyr, and how that will benefit his son. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
How Iran Is Building a Religious Mythology Around Its New Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died a martyr. That fate will benefit his son.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Iran has chosen Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late ayatollah and a close associate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as the next supreme leader. Seems unwise, perhaps, to announce a successor while bombings are still ongoing. Israel has said it will target a new supreme leader.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Khamenei leaves behind a system with no obvious successor, largely by design, and an Islamic Republic in a fight for survival. Any new supreme leader will have less personal authority than Khamenei and serve a more ceremonial role. My latest: www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Khamenei’s Death Leaves Iran at Historic Turning Point—Without a Clear Successor
The Islamic Republic the late ayatollah led for nearly four decades is in a fight for its survival.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Many of us who have followed Iran for years, and lived there, have imagined and debated Khamenei's death for years. Yet I feel unprepared for what comes next. My obituary of the man who more than any other one individual shaped the modern Middle East: www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei Dies
The leader of post-revolutionary Iran expanded the country’s global ambitions while facing domestic anger over a failing economy.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Greenlanders are perplexed by Trump’s plan to send a hospital ship to the island. The seed of the idea, I discovered came from one of their own. Meet Jørgen Boassen, a Greenlandic bricklayer who during Mardi Gras inspired Gov Jeff Landry to propose the idea to Trump www.wsj.com/world/the-gr...
wsj.com
The Greenlandic Bricklayer Behind Trump’s Plan to Send a Hospital Ship
Jørgen Boassen says he was the one who inspired the governor of Louisiana to propose the idea to President Trump.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
I embedded with a team of U.S. Special Forces, veterans the global war on terror, as they retrained for Arctic warfare. The U.S. military is experts on all kinds of warfare, but not in the Arctic. "People don’t understand how absolutely absurd it is to operate up there" www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
U.S. Elite Troops Hardened by War on Terror Retrain for Arctic Combat
A Wall Street Journal reporter trained for 10 days with a team of Green Berets during a grueling winter warfare training.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
The top 0.1% richest households' share of America's new wealth is now more than 14% Politics aside, the risk is that the U.S. economy becomes increasingly dependent on a narrow group of very rich, whose spending is tied to the performance of the stock market. www.wsj.com/finance/bill...
wsj.com
Billionaires’ Low Taxes Are Becoming a Problem for the Economy
Tax avoidance by the superwealthy is an economic issue as well as a political one.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
I lived and trained for 10 days with a group of U.S. Special Forces as they learned how to operate in extreme cold, to prep for potential war with Russia in the Arctic. I took the ice plunge so you don't have to. www.wsj.com/world/europe... #sweden #russia #arctic #usarmy
wsj.com
How U.S. Special Forces Are Training in an Arctic Warfare Bootcamp
WSJ’s Sune Engel Rasmussen is the first civilian to take part in this grueling training with a unit of American Green Berets.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Even at the lower end of estimates, Iran's crackdown on protesters would rank as one of the most violent deployments of state power against protesters, exceeding the toll at China's Tiananmen Square in 1989. And 10,000 is just an unfathomable number. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Iran’s Protest Crackdown Looks Deadlier by the Day
Rights groups’ estimates grow to 10,000 or more dead as new details trickle out.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
A US aircraft carrier is steaming its way to the Persian Gulf, possibly to help attack Iran. But a strike, no matter the type, will have unpredictable consequences for Iranian protesters, and may not help them at all. My latest: www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Trump Has Options in Iran. None Are Likely to Help Protesters Much.
A U.S. aircraft carrier is heading to the region. If Trump decides to intervene over Tehran’s crackdown, there could be unpredictable consequences.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
In Iraq, Martin Tamm Andersen sat beside a dying Danish soldier who had stepped on an IED fighting America's war. Now Trump threatens to take Greenland and Vance calls Denmark a bad ally. "You feel betrayed. It’s extremely uncomfortable." My story from Copenhagen www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
‘You Feel Betrayed.’ In Denmark, Public Stunned by Trump’s Designs on Greenland.
Of all the U.S.’s allies in Europe, Denmark was among those that fought closest alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
IRAN: Ayatollah Khomeini once described the humiliating 1988 cease-fire with Iraq as drinking from a “poisoned chalice.” Ali Khamenei now faces a similar situation. To save his rule he must give up lifelong ideological positions and strike a bitter compromise. My story: www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Is Running Out of Road
With his room for maneuver shrinking fast, he faces a climbdown on deeply held beliefs to bring relief to his country.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Excellent story by my colleague Max Colchester about the kind of economy Trump would inherit in #Greenland: sluggish, subsidized and accustomed to Scandinavian welfare www.wsj.com/economy/welc...
wsj.com
Welcome to Greenland, an Economy Reliant on Subsidies and Shrimp
Greenlanders get heavily subsidized by Denmark, and any future mining boom will be costly.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
When Chinese research submarines this summer traveled thousands of feet beneath the #Arctic ice, it sent a chilling message to the US and its allies. If #Russia's dominance in the high north wasn't enough, #China is becoming more aggressive as well. Our story: www.wsj.com/world/china-...
wsj.com
China’s Push to Master the Arctic Opens an Alarming Shortcut to U.S.
National-security officials say Chinese submarines and icebreakers pose a new military threat from the High North.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Drones, robots, sophisticated surveillance and navigation tech. All of it is now a tenet of modern warfare. But in the Arctic, where the risk of the next global conflict is growing, most hi tech equipment doesn’t work. My story: www.wsj.com/world/where-...
wsj.com
Where Drones Drop Dead and GPS Goes Haywire
As the risk of conflict grows in the Arctic, Western militaries and startups are working to tackle the unique challenges of fighting there.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
“I will keep killing to keep Bashar Assad in power... I will kill half the country if I have to.” My colleagues @jmalsin.bsky.social and Summer Said on the notorious architect of the Assad regimes campaign to kill and collectively punish the Syrian people www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
The Hunt for Assad’s Brutal Enforcer
Jamil Hassan left behind a legacy of deaths and torture when he escaped the Syrian revolution last year. Now his former victims are trying to bring him to justice.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Our exclusive: María Corina Machado traveled by boat yesterday to the island nation of Curacao. She is now on her way to Oslo where her daughter has just received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf www.wsj.com/world/americ...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Machado Made It Out of Venezuela by Boat a Day Before Nobel Ceremony
The opposition leader didn’t reach Oslo in time to collect Peace Prize but said she would be traveling to Norway.
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Sune Engel Rasmussen @suneengel.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
“All these folks that fought our wars should have been granted veteran status. We gotta make sure they get the same benefits as our veterans” Advocates say the US should allow in more, not fewer, Afghans, and provide mental health counseling. My story: www.wsj.com/politics/nat... #afghanistan
wsj.com
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Targets Even Closest Wartime Allies
The door is now shut to some 265,000 Afghans waiting to come, many of whom worked with the U.S. or have loved ones who did.
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