Iran has Dropped Some Demands for Nuclear Deal, U.S. Official Says
STEVE HOLLAND AND ARSHAD MOHAMMED | REUTERS
Iran has dropped some of its main demands on resurrecting a deal to rein in Tehran's nuclear program, including its insistence that international inspectors close some probes of its atomic program, bringing the possibility of an agreement closer, a senior U.S. official told Reuters on Monday.
Putin, Macron Agree to Send Expert Mission to Ukraine Nuclear Plant
LUANNA MUNIZ | POLITICO
During a phone call on Friday, Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin agreed that a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should be sent to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, according to the French president's office and the Kremlin...The mission would take place "on the basis of a United Nations evaluation, under Ukrainian control. It will not go through Russia, as the Russians first requested," according to an Elysée official.
3 IAF Officers Sacked for Accidental Firing of BrahMos Missile into Pakistani Territory in March
RAGHAV BIKHCHANDANI | THE PRINT
The Centre Tuesday dismissed three Indian Air Force (IAF) officers, including a group captain, for accidentally misfiring a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that had found its way into Pakistani territory in March. The three officers found primarily responsible for the incident, following a court of inquiry (CoI), also includes a commanding officer of the BrahMos unit.
US, S. Korea Open Biggest Drills in Years Amid North Threats
KIM TONG-HYUNG | ABC NEWS
The United States and South Korea began their biggest combined military training in years Monday as they heighten their defense posture against the growing North Korean nuclear threat…The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises will continue through Sept. 1 in South Korea and include field exercises involving aircraft, warships, tanks and potentially tens of thousands of troops. While Washington and Seoul describe their exercises as defensive, North Korea portrays them as invasion rehearsals and has used them to justify its nuclear weapons and missiles development.
U.S. Tries to Reassure Israel Over Possible Iran Deal
BARAK RAVID | AXIOS
The Biden administration in recent days has been seeking to reassure Israel that it hasn’t agreed to new concessions with Iran and a nuclear deal isn’t imminent, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios…Iran gave a formal response this week to a “final” proposal from the EU, which has been mediating between the U.S. and Iran. That increased speculation that a deal could be close, and led to friction between the U.S. and Israel, which opposes a restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal.
In Ukraine, a Nuclear Plant Held Hostage
MARC SANTORA AND ANDREW E. KRAMER | THE NEW YORK TIMES
In the winter darkness, tracer rounds from Russian armored vehicles streaked past nuclear reactors and high-tension electrical lines. A fire broke out. Shrapnel sprayed a reactor containment vessel. In the control room of Reactor No. 3, operators were horrified. “Stop firing at the nuclear facility,” one begged over the station’s loudspeakers. “You are endangering the safety of the entire world.”