Tag Archives: nuclear weapons

Here’s one more thing to worry about: “On Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time, the U.S. Air Force, in partnership with the Strategic Capabilities Office, conducted a flight test of a prototype conventionally-configured ground-launched ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Carver said in a statement. Such a missile was prohibited …

Reuters reports: North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said today that denuclearization is off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed, the starkest statement yet emphasizing the gulf between the two sides ahead of a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang. U.S. President Donald Trump sought to play down a recent surge …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow is prepared to immediately extend the only remaining nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States. Speaking at a meeting with military officials, Putin said that Russia has repeatedly offered the U.S. to extend the New START treaty that expires in 2021 but that it hasn’t heard back. “Russia is …

The Associated Press reports: North Korea on Tuesday repeated its assertions that the Trump administration is running out of time to salvage nuclear negotiations, saying it’s entirely up to the United States to choose what “Christmas gift” it gets from the North. The statement, attributed to a senior diplomat, came as North Korea continues to dial up pressure on Washington …

NBC News reports: Satellite photos indicate North Korea is building a ballistic missile submarine and may be making preparations to test a submarine-launched missile, according to an analysis of the commercial images by experts at a Washington-based think tank. The photos of Sinpo South Shipyard taken Monday appear to confirm reports by North Korean state media of a “newly built …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump on Monday described as “ridiculous” a report that he discussed using nuclear weapons to alter the course of hurricanes. Trump, who is meeting with world leaders at the G-7 in France, took to Twitter to swipe at an Axios report that he had raised the idea with senior Homeland Security and national security officials …

Jonathan Swan reports at Axios: President Trump has suggested multiple times to senior Homeland Security and national security officials that they explore using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from hitting the United States, according to sources who have heard the president’s private remarks and been briefed on a National Security Council memorandum that recorded those comments. Behind the scenes: During …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered a like-for-like response to a recent U.S. missile test, which he said showed that Washington aimed to deploy previously banned missiles around the world. The Pentagon said on Monday it had tested a conventionally-configured cruise missile that hit its target after more than 500 km (310 miles) of flight, its first …

Reuters reports: Norway’s nuclear safety authority is analyzing amounts of radioactive iodine detected in the air in northern Norway in the days after a deadly explosion during a rocket engine test over the border in Russia. Russia’s state nuclear agency, Rosatom, said on Saturday that five people killed in the blast were its staff members, and the accident involved “isotope …

Reuters reports: The Kremlin boasted on Tuesday it was winning the race to develop new cutting edge nuclear weapons despite a mysterious rocket accident last week in northern Russia that caused a temporary spike in radiation levels. Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear agency, has said that the Aug. 8 accident occurred during a rocket test on a sea platform in the …

The New York Times reports: American intelligence officials are racing to understand a mysterious explosion that released radiation off the coast of northern Russia last week, apparently during the test of a new type of nuclear-propelled cruise missile hailed by President Vladimir V. Putin as the centerpiece of Moscow’s arms race with the United States. American officials have said nothing …

Politico reports: President Trump on Friday said he received a “beautiful” letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the country continues to test ballistic missiles, alarming U.S. allies in the region. Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a fundraiser in the Hamptons that the two men could meet again in the future to discuss …

The Associated Press reports: The United States plans to test a new missile in coming weeks that would have been prohibited under a landmark, 32-year-old arms control treaty that the U.S. and Russia ripped up on Friday. Washington and Moscow walked out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty that President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed in 1987, …

Newsweek reports: The U.S. military has acknowledged that North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles can now hit targets anywhere in the continental U.S., confirming fears raised by weapons tests conducted in 2017. U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) released its 2019 Strategic Digest on Thursday, detailing the current state of play for American troops on the Korean peninsula. As part of its summary, …

The New York Times reports: From a seemingly fanciful tweet to a historic step into North Korean territory, President Trump’s largely improvised third meeting on Sunday with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was a masterpiece of drama, the kind of made-for-TV spectacle that Mr. Trump treasures. But for weeks before the meeting, which started as a Twitter offer by …

Mediaite reports: It currently appears that, under President Donald Trump, American foreign policy has devolved into a game of grade school playground exchanging of insults. At least that’s where we are in light of the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. Trump responded on Twitter Tuesday to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani calling the Trump administration’s new economic sanctions …

NBC News reports: Kim Jong Un is considering suspending talks with the United States and may rethink a ban on missile and nuclear tests unless Washington makes concessions, a senior North Korean diplomat was quoted as saying Friday. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui blamed top U.S. officials for the breakdown of last month’s summit in Hanoi between President Donald …

The Associated Press reports: The Pentagon plans to begin flight tests this year of two types of missiles that have been banned for more than 30 years by a treaty from which both the United States and Russia are expected to withdraw in August, defense officials said Wednesday. By moving forward with these missile projects, the Pentagon is not excluding …

The BBC reports: Satellite images of a facility near Pyongyang suggest that North Korea may be preparing to launch a missile or a satellite. The increase in activity is around a site known as Sanumdong, where North Korea assembled most of its ballistic missiles and rockets. It comes after reports earlier this week that North Korea’s main rocket launch site …

Politico reports: Former President Jimmy Carter — who once brokered a nuclear agreement with Kim Jong Un’s grandfather in the 1990s — is offering to travel to North Korea to try and break President Donald Trump’s deadlock with the North Korean dictator. The offer was described to POLITICO by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who met with the former president in …