All articles tagged with #nuclear weapons
President Donald Trump said he will meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un this year, confirming reports he’s pursuing a high-profile summit. The two leaders have met before (2018 in Singapore, 2019 in Vietnam), and the administration recently downsized joint exercises with South Korea; Trump declined to say whether they’re exchanging letters again, and NBC News is seeking more details about the plan.
President Donald Trump said he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year, highlighting Kim’s nuclear arsenal and a favorable personal rapport, while noting a recent shift in U.S.-South Korea military drills that could influence negotiations.
At Nagasaki's 81st bombing anniversary, Mayor Shiro Suzuki denounces nuclear weapons as ‘absolute evil’ and urges Japan to uphold the three non-nuclear principles, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pushes a major defence-policy overhaul that could expand Japan’s military role and fuel debate over allowing nuclear arms under the US security umbrella, amid concerns from survivors and critics about a return to ‘new militarism.’
Nagasaki observed the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing, with the city’s mayor urging global leaders to pursue nuclear abolition and arguing that nuclear deterrence increases risk rather than ensuring security.
Wesley Liu reviews the rediscovered memoir Hiroshima, 8:15: The Lost Memoir, which shifts the focus from the bombing itself to Hiroshima’s weeks and months of rebuilding and the broader work of memory that followed, offering a nuanced view of postwar Japan beyond simple surrender narratives.
With an election looming, Netanyahu hinted at unilateral moves to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions as Washington and Tehran near an interim deal on the Strait of Hormuz; analysts say the war hasn’t achieved its aims and Netanyahu’s brinkmanship may be election-driven, while some officials warn unilateral Israeli action would be inconceivable while the US seeks a negotiated end to the conflict.
Iran asserts it is in the final stage of negotiations with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi says Tehran will continue pursuing nuclear weapons as long as the US and Israel have them; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to prevent Iran from obtaining a weapon, and U.S. and allied voices weigh diplomacy and pressure as regional security tensions persist.
On Hiroshima's 81st anniversary, Kiyoshi Tanimoto's long-lost English memoir Hiroshima 8:15 The Lost Memoir has surfaced in Yale archives via John Hersey's collection, offering a fresh eyewitness account of the blast and the minister's postwar relief work. The memoir describes the sharp flash, a tremendous explosion, and the devastation as his family was buried under rubble; it also recounts survivors' suffering, including radiation sickness, and his later peace activism with the Hiroshima Maidens. Found by Hersey's grandson Cannon Hersey and filmmaker Taku Nishimae, the manuscript adds to Hersey's 1946 Hiroshima coverage and is set to become a feature film at the 2028 Cannes festival, with Takehiro Hira attached to star as Tanimoto.
Iran’s IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi said Tehran will continue developing nuclear weapons as long as the United States and Israel possess them, a stance that hardens the security narrative around talks over the Strait of Hormuz. Netanyahu and Trump reiterated a tough stance against a nuclear Iran, while experts warn Tehran may use Hormuz negotiations to win sanctions relief before addressing its nuclear program. Analysts urge keeping the nuclear issue front and center, pursuing verifiable inspections, and tying any concessions to concrete nuclear steps to prevent Tehran from preserving leverage and stockpiles.
The Trump administration signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that would give Riyadh a pathway to enriching nuclear fuel and require US firms to supply its reactors, a move drawing alarm from nonproliferation experts and triggering a 90-day Congressional review.
Japan’s defense minister Shinjiro Koizumi urged a more open debate on the role of nuclear weapons as Tokyo weighs security policy updates, including a possible revision of the decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear arms.
Nobel laureates, scientists, religious leaders and former leaders gathered at Rome’s Capitoline Hill to sign the Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace in the AI and Nuclear era, urging renewed international cooperation, ethical oversight, and meaningful human control over life-and-death decisions as AI and nuclear threats intensify; the Vatican-hosted event culminated July 16 with calls to reduce nuclear risk and prevent an arms race.
MIT physicist Areg Danagoulian proposes a proof-of-concept “inspector” satellite that would orbit beneath a suspect spacecraft and use a specialized neutron detector to pick up signals from uranium in a thermonuclear warhead as it traverses the inner Van Allen belt, while filtering out protons and Earth-originating background neutrons through directional detection. The concept aims to verify Outer Space Treaty commitments by detecting potential space-based nukes, but it remains theoretical and would require prototypes and further development to address practical challenges.
China fired a long-range submarine-launched ballistic missile into the Pacific, marking its first known demonstration of a sea-based strategic nuclear strike capability and prompting alarm among U.S. allies.
A state-linked IRGC media outlet argues Iran must develop a nuclear bomb to deter adversaries and secure peace, conflicting with Iran’s pledge not to weaponize under the Iran deal with the U.S. and amid ongoing IAEA verification talks.