Demetri Sevastopulo, Amy Mackinnon, and Andrew England | The Financial Times
France, Germany and the UK have told the UN they are prepared to trigger the reimposition of sanctions on Iran unless it resumes negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme. The foreign ministers of the three countries — known collectively as the E3 — wrote to the UN on Tuesday to raise the spectre of implementing a “snapback” mechanism unless Iran takes action. But they said they had offered to extend a deadline to start the process if Tehran returned to the negotiating table.
Christian Edwards and Anna Chernova | CNN
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the Trump administration’s “energetic” efforts to stop the war in Ukraine and hinted that Moscow and Washington could strike a deal on nuclear arms control during their summit on Friday in Alaska. In his first public comments since US President Donald Trump announced the Alaska summit, Putin on Thursday chaired a meeting of senior Russian officials at the Kremlin to brief them on the state of play in negotiations with the US on Ukraine.
Mike Stone | Reuters/Yahoo
The Trump administration's flagship Golden Dome missile defense system will include four layers -- one satellite-based and three on land -- with 11 short-range batteries located across the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii, according to a U.S. government slide presentation on the project first reported by Reuters. The slides, tagged “Go Fast, Think Big!” were presented to 3,000 defense contractors in Huntsville, Alabama, last week and reveal the unprecedented complexity of the system, which faces an ambitious 2028 deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Reuters/Yahoo
Iran could hold direct nuclear talks with the United States if conditions are suitable, first Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said on Tuesday, according to state media. "Iran is ready for negotiations under equal conditions in order to safeguard its interests ... The Islamic Republic's stance is in the direction that people want and, should there be suitable conditions, we are even ready for direct talks," Aref said.
Kim Seung-yeon | Yonhap News
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Thursday that South Korea hopes U.S. President Donald Trump's leadership can help break the impasse in the long-stalled nuclear talks with North Korea, as the new Lee Jae Myung government seeks to resume dialogue with Pyongyang… "I told them that, in the current situation, President Trump's leadership is essential to creating something new, and that I hope to see that from him," Cho said.
Allie Maloney | Federation of American Scientists
Much of the scholarship surrounding the effects of nuclear weapons on environmental and human health is framed within a potential detonation scenario… This report demonstrates, however, that the creation and sustainment of the nuclear deterrent harms members of the American public. As the United States continues nuclear modernization on all legs of its nuclear triad through the creation of new variants of warheads, missiles, and delivery platforms, examining the effects of nuclear weapons production on the public is ever more pressing.