CND Press Digest: Wednesday 24th January 2024

NATO / Europe

• Turkish parliament approves Sweden’s membership of NATO. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/23/turkish-parliament-meets-vote-sweden-membership-nato?l…
• NATO signs £950m contract so Ukraine has more artillery rounds.
• Why is NATO preparing for World War III? Prioritising remilitarisation over economic growth is dangerously short-sighted.
• ‘Send back our husbands’ - Russian women in rare protest.

Middle East & North Africa

• Biden’s incompetence has left the Middle East teetering on the brink of total war. The president’s clueless administration has left America adrift on the world stage, and emboldened bad actors everywhere.
• The Guardian: The first conscientious objector to be jailed in Israel since 7 October says ‘there is no military solution’ to the conflict.

AUKUS / Indo-Pacific

• AUKUS endangers stability in the Pacific, China ambassador warns.

Global Nukes

• The Doomsday Clock remains at 90 seconds to midnight for 2024. Watch back the announcement here.
• Read CND’s press release on the announcement here and a new blog post from Kate here.
• Coverage of the announcement from the Guardian, Sky News, Independent, and Al Jazeera.
• CND reacts to Doomsday Clock setting as protests continue at RAF Lakenheath
• Jane Corbin BBC on the Doomsday Clock announcement. The piece includes interviews from last week’s documentary on the nuclear threat and comments from CND about RAF Lakenheath.

• Failure to deal with Trident concerns ’puts Scots lives at risk.’ SNP defence spokesperson Martin Docherty-Hughes will lead an adjournment debate on Wednesday evening to highlight bombshell comments from former top government adviser Dominic Cummings.
• Workers at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston and Burghfield are on a 24-hour strike after two months of other forms of industrial action in a dispute over pay.
• Meanwhile, employees that work in Rolls-Royce’s nuclear submarine programme areto be balloted in a dispute over pay. The GMB Union said the vote comes following workers rejecting the Derby-headquartered group’s latest offer.

UK Nuclear Energy

• Hinkley C: UK nuclear plant price tag could rocket by a third. EDF says the opening of the plant could be pushed until 2031 and cost £35 billion. More coverage in the Guardian, the Times, FT, and the Telegraph.
• Backing the wrong horse: Government doubles Sizewell C funding on nuclear bad news day.
• Bradwell anti-nuclear campaigners address Government roadmap.

Nuclear Energy

• The Ecologist: Nuclear hype in meltdown.
• Nuclear power output expected to break global records in 2025.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament