nuclear weapons
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North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday (Jan 14), according to Seoul’s military, in what experts said could be a message to US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. The launch came as Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited South Korea for a series of meetings with top officials, with the Asian…
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Japan’s foreign minister held talks in South Korea with top officials on Monday (Jan 13) as the Asian neighbours seek to strengthen ties before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. Takeshi Iwaya met counterpart Cho Tae-yul for discussions in the capital Seoul, the South Korean foreign ministry said, with the two later holding a…
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We’ve read reactions over the last 24 hours to Vladimir Putin’s comments encouraging a “missile duel” between Russia and the US. The Russian president suggested the two superpowers could use Kyiv as a target to see which country’s missiles were able to bypass US air defences. His comments drew international condemnation, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy labelling…
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country has been hit by Christmas attacks on its energy infrastructure for the third time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Moscow launched a huge aerial attack on Ukraine’s energy facilities last Friday, which Zelenskyy said was one of the largest yet on the grid. The attack damaged power facilities…
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Iran has reached “unprecedented levels” of enriched Uranium, giving them the capability to produce fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons, German Ambassador to the United Nations Antje Leendertse announced Tuesday. Iran informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog in November 2024 that it plans to install more than 6,000 extra uranium-enriching centrifuges at its enrichment plants and bring more…
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Vladimir Putin was so close to launching a nuclear weapon in Ukraine in October 2022 that the government held emergency meetings over how the fallout could affect the UK, according to an updated biography of ex-prime minister Liz Truss. Truss reportedly spent some of her last days in office studying weather maps and preparing for…
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The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a “crucial” test of its latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasongpho-19 on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday. The missile flew a distance of 1,001.2 km for 5,156 seconds before landing on a preset area in the open waters off the country’s…
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Israel’s high-powered laser interception system, dubbed Iron Beam, is expected to be operational next year. That’s according to the director-general of Israel’s foreign ministry Eyal Zamir, who signed a $535m (£411m) contract with manufacturers Rafael and Elbit yesterday. Iron Beam would supplement Israel’s other aerial defence capacities, such as the more well-known Iron Dome. These…
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The Tory leadership hopeful has, James Cleverly, has answered questions about his thoughts on the party’s monumental election defeat. He says the Conservatives “achieved a lot” during their time in office but they were “obscured by a lot of the infighting, a lot of the rowing [and] a lot of the bad behaviour”. He says…
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Russia offered to help Vietnam develop nuclear power plants during President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Hanoi, Alexei Likhachev, head of the Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom told RIA agency in remarks published on Monday. Likhachev, who was part of Putin’s entourage during his visit to Vietnam last week, said that he had made the offer to…
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The United States and China resumed semi-official nuclear arms talks in March for the first time in five years, with Beijing’s representatives telling U.S. counterparts that they would not resort to atomic threats over Taiwan, according to two American delegates who attended. The Chinese representatives offered reassurances after their U.S. interlocutors raised concerns that China…
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The US has called on Iran to dilute all of its enriched uranium that could be used in the future to create nuclear weapons. Reports suggest Tehran has enriched the fuel to 60% purity – shy of the 90% required for weapons-grade levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a confidential report to…
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Vladimir Putin’s threat that he could order the use of nuclear weapons has been a focus of significant reaction since his comments during a speech earlier. Joining those who responded to the remarks is UK foreign minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, who labelled them “irresponsible”. He levelled his criticism in Parliament after the Russian president…
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Vladimir Putin said that 95% of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces have been modernised as he addressed Russia on the country’s annual Defender of the Fatherland Day yesterday. He said that Russia had started serial production of its new Zircon hypersonic missiles and that new strike systems, which he did not specify, were being tested. In…
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The US, France, Germany and the UK on Thursday condemned Iran’s increased production of highly enriched uranium following a recent report. “We urge Iran to immediately reverse these steps and de-escalate its nuclear program,” the countries said in a joint statement. According to the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has increased…
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Russia’s foreign ministry has reacted with concern to a comment from a junior Israeli minister who appeared to express openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza. Asked in a radio interview about a hypothetical nuclear option, heritage minister Amihay Eliyahu, who has since been suspended by Benjamin Netanyahu over…
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