Dear all,

 

Please find this week’s roundup below. Thank you all for your continued support.

 

CND Weekly Digest: Friday, 29 November 2024

 

Ukraine

• CND press release ahead of Saturday’s emergency day of action.
• Sophie has had some articles on escalation in Ukraine published in Labour Outlookand the Morning Star.
• Greenpeace: Risk of unprecedented nuclear disaster if Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s electricity system continue.
• Thursday was the 30th anniversary of the Budapest memorandum, with pieces by the BBC and Kyiv Independent.

Nukes in Britain

• BBC: The world is at the dawn of a “third nuclear age” in which Britain is threatened by multiple foes including Russia, the head of the armed forces warned. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said “wild threats of tactical nuclear use” by Russia, China’s nuclear build up, Iran’s failure to co-operate with a nuclear deal, and North Korea’s “erratic behaviour” were among the threats facing the West. He called for more defence funding and reform at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) defence think tank on Wednesday.
• Sophie is quoted in this Morning Star article on Britain’s new military-industrial strategy. 
• News item on the CND website about John Healey’s military-industrial strategy annoucnement and new figures from SIPRI which found that profits at global arms companies are skyrocketing.
• Washington Examiner: British Special Forces join drone hunt at RAF Lakenheath.

Global Nukes

• The Guardian view on a race for missile supremacy: competition fuels a dangerous escalation
• The politics of nuclear disarmament verification: How to advance nuclear disarmament.
• Independent Catholic News: British and French peace organisations urge governments to meet nuclear disarmament commitments.
• Arms Control Association: Nuclear challenges facing the next US President.
• iNews: What a Russian nuclear bomb test would look like.
• Teen Vogue: Nuclear weapons are stored on native reservations in an example of nuclear colonialism.
• A new nuclear arms race is beginning. It will be far more dangerous than the last one – Guardian podcast.
• War on the Rocks: Managing AI risks of nuclear command and control.

Middle East

• Declassified UK: Hundreds of F-35 components sent from Britain to US. Over 500 shipments of F-35 parts sent from British airbase to the US, where they can be exported to Israel amid Gaza genocide.
• Declassified UK: F-35 components sent to Israel from UK airbase 14 times. Exclusive: Twice as many supplies for Israel’s “most lethal” fighter jets were sent from Britain than previously known.

Nuclear Power

• CND comments published in this article about claims made by the Tony Blair Institute about nuclear power.
• The Spectator: Tony Blair is wrong to love nuclear energy.
• Sizewell C wins legal battle and government confirms timing of final investment decision.
• ITV: Nuclear reactor installed at Hinkley Point C, the first in a UK power station for 30 years.
• Nation.Cymru: Former Ynys Môn Tory MP Virginia Crosbie has co-launched an investment fund aimed at helping to capitalise new projects in the nuclear sector.
• Ed Miliband: My door is open for nuclear projects in UK.

Uranium

• Reuters: French nuclear fuels company Orano said on Wednesday that authorities in Niger have taken control of its Somair uranium mine as the military-led government steps up pressure on foreign investors in the West African country.

NATO / Europe

• FT: NATO’s Rutte says Russia supporting North Korean nuclear programme.Alliance chief claims Moscow’s help for Pyongyang could destabilise Korean Peninsula and threaten US.

AUKUS

• Australia’s defence ministry has ordered a top-to-bottom review of the Australian Submarine Agency, amid concerns of its handling of the AUKUS submarine contract.
• The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has an article on the troubles surrounding the AUKUS pact – and calls for Australia to prepare to return to build French submarines from the initial contract Canberra ditched in favour of the US-UK deal.

Best,

 

Pádraig McCarrick

 

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament