CND Press Digest: Tuesday 19th December 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• Germany puts its troops in the line of fire if Putin attacks NATO. Berlin is movingwith unaccustomed speed to station a new armored tank brigade in a Lithuanian area strategists see as being at risk of a Russian attack.
• NATO and Donald Trump. Congress tries to take out an insurance policy against a President’s unilateral US withdrawal.
• Blinken pressures Turkey over Sweden’s NATO bid. The conversation between the top US and Turkish diplomats followed a rare phone call between the Turkish and US presidents as Washington increases pressure on Ankara to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid.
• Is the Baltic Sea a NATO Lake? NATO members face a dynamic regional security picture in the Baltic Sea. The alliance cannot answer all of the threats; further capabilities will be needed.
• NATO’s delicate balancing act in the Indo-Pacific. pledge deeper ties in Budapest.
• NATO and Ukraine.
• Ukraine receives further weapon support from NATO members and BAE Systems. https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/landwarfareintl/ukraine-receives-more-weapon-support-and-nato-com…

Gaza War

• ‘Morally indefensible’: experts urge Cameron to back instant Gaza ceasefire. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/18/un-security-council-vote-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-del…
• UN delays vote calling for Gaza ceasefire as US ‘The bombs are still falling. My heart breaks every day’: novelists Sally Rooney and Isabella Hammad on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
• Dozens of (Australian) Labor figures condemn Israel’s ‘domination’ of Palestine and call for immediate ceasefire.
• Reuters: Ukrainian troops face artillery shortages, scale back some operations – commander.
• Reuters: Ukraine’s army chief says situation at front line is not a stalemate.
• They Do It for Trump. GOP’s shifting excuses for abandoning Ukraine.

• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese  praised the passage of legislation to facilitate the AUKUS security pact through the US Congress as “historic,” in a foreign policy speech that placed Canberra’s security focus squarely in the Indo-Pacific region.
• BAE’s sub workforce problems may foreshadow difficulties for AUKUS

Nuclear Leaks

• GMB union says urgent action needed to tackle safety concerns at Sellafield.
• Watch: Sellafield nuclear site boss denies evidence of hacking.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Reliable, affordable low carbon energy will be hard to achieve without nuclear, writesa regular nuclear shill in The Telegraph.
• The twelfth annual Japan-UK Nuclear Dialogue was held in London on 5 December 2023 to further strengthen cooperation between the UK and Japan in nuclear energy.

Nuclear Energy

• UAE’s ENEC completes final unit of Barakah nuclear energy plant.

Fusion

• Nuclear fusion enters ‘new era’ after major breakthrough for near-limitless clean energy.

Fukushima

• US promotion of banned Fukushima seafood contradicts Biden’s cancer initiatives. Japanese seafood banned by China, Russia and South Korea is headed for US military bases in Japan.
• Japan to restart nuclear-contaminated water release late February 2024.
• High radiation level detected in worker’s nose at Fukushima nuclear plant.

North Korea

• North Korea says Hwasong-18 ICBM test was response to US hostility.
• Explainer: What are solid-fuel missiles, and why is North Korea developing them?

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament