Ryan Chan | Newsweek
A top South Korean official warned on Monday that Kim Jong Un's regime in the North has almost completed the development of nuclear weapons for battlefield use.In an interview with Japanese media in Seoul, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik discussed the importance of trilateral cooperation between his country, Japan, and their mutual ally, the United States, to counter threats posed by Pyongyang…"Although no deployment has been confirmed, development is believed to be in the final stages," he said of the "accelerating development" of tactical nuclear weapons.
Abbey Fenbert | The Kyiv Independent
Western allies need to "let go" of their fears of escalating conflict with Russia and give Ukraine the assistance it needs to end the full-scale war, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a Q & A on Reddit on July 19"Over the last two and a half years, nothing has harmed Ukraine's war effort more than the concept of 'controlled escalation,'" …Kuleba described the fear of escalation as "irrational" and said that evidence indicates that greater military support for Ukraine has not led to escalations with Russia.…Kuleba also offered a historical perspective on Russia's full-scale invasion and the role of U.S. intervention…"Looking back, it is clear that Russia, rather than Ukraine, should have been disarmed after the Cold War ended," he said. "I could argue the U.S. owes us support today for stripping us of our nuclear defense shield years ago, but I guess that doesn't sell."
Jamie Waller | BBC News
A nuclear fusion energy plant being built in Nottinghamshire has been described as the "UK's Nasa moment" as it races to become the first of its type in the world. The experimental work, based at the decommissioned West Burton A power station near Retford, is aimed at creating a new energy source. The project, called Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), was showcased at a launch event on Tuesday in Gainsborough, just over the border in Lincolnshire.
Eamon Farhat | Bloomberg
Italy has increased imports of electricity from neighboring countries as soaring temperatures boost demand for cooling. Demand for air-conditioning — already among the highest in Europe — increased further as temperatures soared above 40C over the past week. That’s forced the Italian grid to fall back on both imports and traditional thermal capacity. At peak times, Italy is importing as much as 3.5 gigawatts of electricity from France, the equivalent to the output of one nuclear power plant.
Gregory Kulacki | Union of Concerned Scientists
China’s decision to suspend talks followed two important meetings with US counterparts. The first was an official gathering in Washington in November 2023.The two diplomats did not issue a joint statement after the meeting, most likely because the two sides left with different unmet expectations…The second meeting was held four months later in Shanghai…the overall US message was not well received. One long-term Chinese participant in these nongovernmental dialogues, which have been going on for almost twenty years, told UCS he’s “lost heart” in the process. He said, “The window of opportunity for China and the United States to avoid an arms race is closed.” And in his view, the fault lies squarely on the US side.
HANNA NOTTE AND JIM LAMSON | War on the Rocks
Western states should also worry about less likely — but no less consequential — forms of Russian assistance that would enhance the hedging strategies underpinning Iran’s asymmetric deterrence and compellence. Moscow may, for instance, support Iran’s nuclear hedging capabilities without helping it cross the threshold to building a nuclear bomb. Iran is also suspected of hedging in other areas where it could benefit from Russian know-how: intermediate-range and inter-continental ballistic missile-applicable technologies, including solid-propellant space launch vehicles, technologies applicable to direct-ascent anti-satellite weapons, and dual-use technologies in the chemical and biological weapons domains to enhance its “on demand” capacity to produce such weapons. Since Moscow’s capabilities in these realms are superior to those of Iran, it could support its partner in honing these hedging strategies.