Was Donald Trump 'blocked' from using the nuclear codes against Iran? •

 Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson alleged on a podcast this week that US President Donald Trump wanted to use the nuclear codes against Iran during an emergency White House meeting, but that he was stopped by General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Johnson described the interaction as "quite the blow up." It comes as concern mounts over the US president's unpredictable behaviour, as many lawmakers voice doubts about his mental state.

The Kim dynasty and North Korea's nuclear weapons

North Korea. Geographically small, it nonetheless looms large in the geopolitical consciousness. The country is isolated, its population desperately poor. The Kim dynasty has ruled for three generations. How does this ruling family manage to make its power felt around the world? The nuclear program is central to North Korea's strategy. For decades, the regime devoted increasingly large amounts of its resources to acquiring the bomb. Then, in 2006, North Korea detonated a nuclear bomb for the first time. It was a signal to the world: North Korea was a force to be reckoned with.

Russian nukes in Belarus: What risk do they pose? | DW News

Russia is believed to be finalizing its transfer of nuclear weapons to its neighbor and close ally, Belarus. The country's leader, Alexander Lukashenko, recently walked back remarks that he wouldn't hesitate to use the nuclear weapons if necessary, saying he was confident there would never be a need. The mixed message is little comfort to Belarus's neighbors.  

Putin confirms transfer of nuclear warheads to Belarus

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has announced the arrival of the first nuclear warheads in Belarus, and said that more would follow. Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, Putin said the move was meant as a deterrent to "those who are thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia." But he remained unclear about his willingness to use them.

Ukraine war: Putin confirms first nuclear weapons moved to Belarus - BBC News

Russia has already stationed a first batch of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Vladimir Putin says. Speaking at an economic forum, he said they would only be used if Russia's territory or state was threatened. The US government says there is no indication the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine.

North Korea publishes photos of 'small nuclear warheads'

North Korea has revealed small nuclear warheads, which it said can be fitted on to short-range missiles. Pyongyang has long claimed it has tactical nuclear weapons, capable of hitting targets in South Korea. But the photos published in its state newspaper on Tuesday are the first time it has provided evidence.

 

NATO warns Russia not to use nuclear weapons |

 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Russian President Vladimir Putin would be crossing a "very important line" if he were to deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

As Ukraine advances, how close are we to a nuclear escalation?

 

While Ukraine counteroffensive makes gains in the south, the Kremlin says it still has to define the exact borders of the territory it is aiming t

How and why Russia might use nukes

A leading expert explains three circumstances under which Russia might use nuclear weapons

Nuclear weapons expert: The likelihood of nuclear war is rising

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In a special interview, one of the world’s leading nuclear weapons experts gives a full analysis of Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats as his invasion of Ukraine continues. What does raising of Russia’s nuclear alert level actually mean? What kind of message was Putin trying to send?

 

Kim Jong-un “will never give up nuclear weapons” says North Korean military defector

 

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un will never give up his nuclear weapons, according to a former senior officer in the country’s spy agency.

Talk about stating the painfully obvious. Without those weapons Kim-Jong un's time in power would come to a swift end. Those weapons are the key to his survival.

Will the West engage with North Korea?

 

UN nuclear watchdog says North Korea has resumed nuclear activity.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog says North Korea has restarted its main nuclear reactor.

The International Atomic Energy Agency released a report saying it has observed evidence of cooling water from the plant, indicating it is in use.

No matter how many times its stated, North Korea isn't giving up its nuclear weapons.  Kim-Jong un and his sycophants know those weapons keep the party going. They have no desire to end up on the wrong side of a jail cell. 

5 Darkest Secrets From Inside North Korea

 

In September 2016, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the Punggye-ri area of North Korea. Intelligence satellites picked up evidence of a 10-kiloton underground nuclear test explosion, and experts believed North Korea could have been deliberately stressing seismic fault lines in the region. The suspicions only grew after a 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck South Korea only three days later...

Donald Trump Gave A Speech

Donald Trump gave a speech congratulating himself for making himself great again.  The mango menace fancies himself   the great negotiator no matter the situation.  Just look at all of his great "negotiations' and there outcome.  In starting a trade war with China for the supposed goal of ending tariffs on various agricultural and manufactured goods has been a complete failure. Because the American agriculture sector was greatly the government was forced to provide bailout funds greater than what was used to save the American automobile industry.   Of course his love affair with Kim-Jong un as led to; well a lot of photo-op's with no further advancements in ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.  One can assume that people the world over were mighty impressed with pictures of two guys who need to go on strict diets.   Donald Trump has also pulled the U.S. out the Paris Climate Agreement saying he could achieve a better deal of course he hasn't.

His biggest failure of course was America's unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action which placed constraints on Iran's nuclear development programs.   Donald Trump like every previous deal and treaty he's withdrawn the U.S. from hasn't led to a  better agreement and when asked just what that new agreement might look like and how it might be better there's nothing but silence.    

Will Saudi Arabia go nuclear?

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is reported to have nearly finished building its first nuclear reactor.

Last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned that "if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit". 

Now, Saudi Arabia is said to be a few months away from completing its first nuclear reactor and some arms control experts are alarmed.

Photos have been published reportedly showing the reactor site in the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology on the outskirts of Riyadh.

Construction is apparently nearly completed around a vessel intended to contain atomic fuel.

The Pacific's Nuclear Timebomb

101 East investigates if the legacy of America's nuclear bomb testing is the poisoning of the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific paradise of Enewetak Atoll harbours a devastating secret - the toxic legacy of American nuclear testing.

Between 1946 and 1958, the US military tested 43 nuclear bombs in the Pacific.

Now a concrete dome - 46cm thick - seals 80,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste on the deserted island of Runit.

But the dome is not working. Rising sea levels threaten to flush a vast stash of highly radioactive plutonium into the Pacific Ocean.

Fire and Fury: Trump's North Korea Crisis (video)

Fault Lines examines what Donald Trump's impulsive leadership style could mean for North Korea, and the world.

As Donald Trump prepared to take office, his predecessor Barack Obama warned that North Korea would be the greatest challenge of his presidency.

But rather than proceed with caution, President Trump responded to a series of intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear weapons tests with bellicose rhetoric, warning North Korea's threats would "be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen".

Japan: In the Missile's Shadow

101 East asks if North Korean missile attacks are stoking fear and hatred in Japan.

North Korean missiles can strike Japan in less than 10 minutes. With escalating tensions, Japanese families are building home shelters or joining evacuation drills in the only nation ever hit by an atomic bomb.

Relations with North Korea plummeted in 2002, when the rogue nation admitted abducting Japanese citizens in the 1970s and early 1980s. Since then, it's ramped up its nuclear and missile programme.

With Japan's Korean expatriate community the target of local anger, critics say PM Shinzo Abe is using fears of an attack for political gain.

Silent Bombs: Kazakhstan's Polygon Legacy

Decades of nuclear bomb testing by the Soviet Union have left a damaging fallout in Kazakh children generations later.

Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union exploded 460 nuclear bombs in eastern Kazakhstan. About 200,000 villagers living within 45km of the test site, the 'Polygon', were exposed to high levels of radiation for.

Not only were they not protected but they were treated as human guinea pigs, instruments of study in the event the Cold War turned into nuclear war. But what is probably most devastating of all is what is happening today.

Children born decades later and never directly exposed to nuclear fallout are sick and getting sicker. They are the product of "radiation-induced mutation in the chromosomes of sperm and ova". In other words, the damage their parents and grandparents suffered in the Soviet Union's heedlessness has not only been passed down but also intensified in the third, fourth and fifth generations.

The Nobel Interview: Beatrice Fihn of ICAN

Al Jazeera's exclusive interview with the director of the anti-nuclear campaign that won the Nobel Peace Prize.

This year, 2017, was a year in which tensions between North Korea and US over nuclear capabilities flared up. 

Multiple missile launches, provocative statements, mocking tweets and fiery rhetoric deepened the standoff between North Korea's Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. 

Many fear that their war of words could bring the world to the brink of nuclear conflict.