Nicole Grajewski | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
On Sunday at 10 p.m. in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened an emergency meeting with Iran’s envoy to Russia, Kazem Jalali. The other attendees included some of the most influential figures in Russia’s corridors of power: newly appointed Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Security Council Head Sergei Shoigu, and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. The meeting’s nominal purpose was to offer Moscow’s unequivocal support for Iran’s ongoing efforts to locate the downed helicopter of President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The underlying message of the uncharacteristically high-level gathering was unequivocal: Russia’s commitment to Iran would not be tied to a single president.
Felicia Schwartz | Financial Times
A breakthrough diplomatic deal between Washington and Riyadh is “pretty much there” but a broader pact involving Israel hinges on “a credible path” towards the creation of a Palestinian state, a senior US official has said. The US had made significant progress in talks with the kingdom over American help on defence and a civilian nuclear programme, the US official said on Tuesday, and the countries had a “near final set” of bilateral agreements in place.
Yuliya Talmazan | NBC News
The United States has said Russia likely launched a counterspace weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite, an accusation Moscow rejected Wednesday as disinformation.The latest clash between Moscow and Washington came as the Kremlin kicked off exercises to simulate the use of tactical nuclear weapons in a likely signal to the West against deeper involvement in Ukraine.
The Japan Times
Japan's 2024 defense white paper will emphasize North Korea's sustained focus on achieving qualitative improvements in its nuclear and missile capabilities, according to an early draft of the upcoming annual report. While maintaining its view that the military balance between China and Taiwan is rapidly tilting in favor of Beijing's side, the Defense Ministry will note that Taiwan is strengthening its own defenses following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the draft obtained by Jiji on Wednesday.
Maxwell Akalaare Adombila | Reuters
Ghana will select by December a company to build its first nuclear power plant from contenders including France's EDF, U.S.-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group, and China National Nuclear Corporation, an energy ministry official said. South Korea's Kepco and its subsidiary Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation as well as Russia's ROSATOM were also competing for the contract expected to span the next decade, said Robert Sogbadji, deputy director for power in charge of nuclear and alternative energy.
W.J. Hennigan | The New York Times
The downwinders who visited Washington last week are not currently eligible for federal assistance because they don’t live in the designated areas in Utah, Nevada and Arizona covered under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, known as RECA. The 1990 legislation has provided billions of dollars to people exposed to harmful radiation during U.S. nuclear tests or while mining uranium. But many affected communities, including those in southern New Mexico where J. Robert Oppenheimer’s team conducted the first atomic blast in 1945, were left off the list.