CND Press Digest: Thursday 11th January 2024

War In Ukraine/NATO

• NATO pledges further major military, economic aid to Ukraine.
• NATO top job should go to country that pays up on defense, Latvian FM says.
• Sweden’s civil defence minister has warned citizens that they could soon be taking up arms, bringing an end to 210 years of peace, with the country expected to join NATO later this year.
• Ukraine builds barricades, digs trenches as focus shifts to defence.
• Johnson embroiled in war of words over ‘sabotaged’ Ukraine peace deal. Former prime minister dismisses the allegation that he ordered President Zelensky to continue the war  as ‘total nonsense and Russian propaganda’.
• The Telegraph opinion: Putin may be about to launch an apocalyptic assault. If we don’t arm Ukraine, NATO will be at war with Moscow within a few years.
• Italy links Ukraine aid to ‘negotiated settlement’ efforts. Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto says military support for Kyiv should be accompanied by more diplomacy.
• South Korea: Ukraine ‘test site’ for North Korean nuclear missiles.

AUKUS

• Much of the focus of the trilateral pact between Australia, the US and the UK, known as AUKUS, has been on military-to-military cooperation, but a group of more than 400 investors is establishing a parallel effort to increase collaboration among the countries’ private sectors.

Gaza War

• Hearings to begin at The Hague in case claiming Israel’s Gaza war is genocide.
• You can watch the proceedings at the ICJ here.
• Red Sea crisis: UN security council demands immediate end to Houthi attacks

Nuclear War

• Al Mayadeen on the looming threat of nuclear war.

UK Nuclear Weapons

• Workers at AWE Aldermaston will stage a 24 hour walkout on 24 January as part of a dispute over pay.

UK Nuclear Energy

• The Guardian: UK government sets out plans for ‘biggest nuclear power expansionin 70 years’.
• The Times and The Telegraph report on the government’s plan for a third nuclear power project, which it says will power six million homes. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/government-looks-past-sizewell-and-plans-for-third-nuclear-plant-...
• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/01/11/claire-coutinho-new-nuclear-power-plant/?link_id=16&...
  
• Reuters: Britain aims for faster investment decisions on new nuclear projects.
• Nuclear power expansion will leave toxic legacy for future generations.
• Anger as UK Government plans ’biggest nuclear expansion in 70 years’.
• Financial Times: UK and EDF ‘on track’ to raise £20bn for Sizewell C funding by end of year.
• Hinkley Point C has opened an online public consultation so locals can have their say on upcoming work at the nuclear power plant near Bridgwater.
• Egremont Councillors discusses ‘staffing crisis’ at Sellafield.

Nuclear Energy

• Reuters: France’s nuclear power boom may curb regional power emissions.
• US seeks to jump-start production of higher-energy uranium now made in Russia.
• Cancelled NuScale contract weighs heavy on new nuclear.
• Japan’s nuclear safety agency orders power plant operator to study the impact of Jan. 1 quake.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament