Tag - nuclear-weapons

 
 

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Iran is now enriching uranium to up to 60% purity and has enough material enriched to that level, if enriched further, for two nuclear weapons, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency's theoretical definition.
WORLD / Politics / EXPLAINER
Apr 19, 2024
As the 2015 nuclear deal crumbles, how close is Iran to weaponization?
With the possibility of Israel retaliating, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander said the nation might review its "nuclear doctrine."
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield poses for a photo with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi and the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2024
U.S. envoy to U.N. uses Japan visit to bolster U.N. Security Council
“The Security Council of 70 years ago does not reflect the realities of today,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday evening.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
Kishida agrees to further deepen ties with South Korea's Yoon
The prime minister informed the South Korean leader about his summit earlier this month with U.S. President Joe Biden.
A direct military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities by the U.S. and its allies would likely only delay its program while risking regional war and increasing the likelihood of Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons in the long run.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2024
Iran hawks want to strike now. They're wrong.
One thing Iran hawks get right, starting with the contention that by attacking Israel directly on Saturday night, Iran changed rules of engagement.
Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagle is pictured at an air base, said to be following an interception mission of an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel, in this handout image released Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 14, 2024
Iran warns Israel not to respond militarily to retaliation
After direct and unprecedented attacks on Israeli, Iran advocates for restraint, hinting at severe consequences if ignored.
This video grab from AFPTV taken on Sunday shows explosions lighting up the Jerusalem sky during Iranian attack on Israel.
WORLD
Apr 14, 2024
Iran launches unprecedented attack on Israel with drones and missiles
Israel's military spokesperson said Iran launched dozens of ground-to-ground missiles at Israel, most of them intercepted outside Israeli borders.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with members of the National Security team regarding the missile attacks on Israel from Iran, in the White House Situation Room on Saturday.
WORLD
Apr 14, 2024
Biden pledges G7 response and U.S. support for Israel after Iran attacks
Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel late on Saturday in its first direct attack on Israeli territory.
An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles toward Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 14, 2024
Multiphase Iran attack tests U.S.-backed Israeli air defenses
Early indications suggest Israel's air defenses effectively handled Iran's missile and drone attack, aimed at overwhelming systems with its complexity.
Climate change, with its natural disasters, is putting nuclear facilities and weapons complexes at risk.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2024
Climate change and nuclear waste are a toxic stew
Nuclear power could be a crucial part of a clean-energy transition, but not if it comes with a high risk of multiple Fukushima-like catastrophes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as he guides a training of the fire division in this picture released on March 19. Pyongyang has spent decades stockpiling millions of rounds of artillery and thousands of rockets in the terrain north of the demilitarized zone, which sits some 40 kilometers away from Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
Kim Jong Un faces annihilation in nearly all Korea war scenarios
Although North Korea has a manpower advantage, the bulk of its forces rely on "increasingly obsolete equipment” dating back to Soviet era.
A woman walks past a TV showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on March 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 2, 2024
North Korea launches intermediate-range missile as elections loom for South
The Defense Ministry said the weapon had traveled some 650 kilometers before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur region last September.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024
What does Russia's veto on North Korea sanctions monitoring mean?
Ending the U.N.'s monitoring will provide North Korea's Kim Jong Un with a major win, experts say.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in January.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2024
North Korean foreign minister nixes any contact with Japan
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has reiterated Pyongyang's stance that it will reject any contact with Japan.
Russia's Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya described the panel as unjustified in the absence of an annual review to assess and potentially modify the sanctions on North Korea.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 29, 2024
Russian veto ends monitoring of U.N.'s North Korea sanctions
Ukraine's foreign minister called the veto "a guilty plea" amid allegations that Pyongyang is aiding Moscow in its war against Kyiv.
A poster for "Oppenheimer" is displayed at a theater in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Friday. The film's Japan debut came eight months after its global release.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 29, 2024
'Oppenheimer' opens in Japan eight months after global release
Japan screenings were delayed as the worldwide premiere was only weeks before the anniversary of the 1945 bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2024
Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb
Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.
Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae attend the opening ceremony of the Gangdong Greenhouse in North Korea in this picture released on March 16.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 27, 2024
North Korea reaches for familiar playbook in talks with Japan
Pyongyang blowing hot and cold on a potential leaders summit is meant to gain the upper hand in negotiations to realize such a meeting.
This picture taken on March 18 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency is said to show an ultralarge rocket salvo firing drill by North Korea.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2024
Warning issued over North Korean tech workers posing as Japanese for cash
The government suspects that such workers are using the proceeds to fund Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development programs.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observs a ground test of a solid fuel engine for a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on North Korea’s western coast in this digitally altered image released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 20, 2024
North Korea's Kim oversees hypersonic missile engine test
The isolated country's leader compared "the military strategic value" of the new weapon as being on par with its powerful long-range missiles.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a rocket salvo firing drill at an unconfirmed location in the country in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2024
North Korea's Kim oversees 'super-large' rocket launcher drills
The North has claimed the weapon has the capability to be equipped with a tactical nuclear warhead.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals