By Norman Solomon*

SAN FRANCISCO, 28 March 2023 (IDN) — The announcement by Vladimir Putin over the weekend that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus marked a further escalation of potentially cataclysmic tensions over the war in neighbouring Ukraine. As the Associated Press reported, “Putin said the move was triggered by Britain’s decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.”

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, 22 March 2023 (IDN) —The tripartite deal between the UK and the US to provide nuclear submarines (SSNs) to Australia—announced March 13—is threatening to have repercussions worldwide

A joint statement by the three countries (AUKUS) described it as a trilaterally-developed submarine based on the UK’s next-generation design that incorporates technology from all three nations, including cutting-edge U.S. submarine technologies. [P 33] JAPANESE | KOREAN | THAI

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, 15 March 2023 (IDN) — Saudi Arabia and Iran— two archrivals in the Middle East who severed links seven years ago—re-established diplomatic, political and economic relations last week (10 March) in a historic deal brokered by China, one of the world’s major nuclear powers.

By John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN, 15 March 2023 (IDN) — It appears that the military-industrial complex has complete control of the government of the United States, which recently voted to give the Pentagon roughly a trillion dollars of the taxpayer's money. This was done by cutting back on social programs which would have helped poor working families.

By ICAN

BERLIN, 14 March 2023 (IDN) — Nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula have remained high in the early months of 2023 with North Korea continuing missile tests and the United States and South Korea mounting joint military exercises, including one practicing how to respond to a nuclear attack and others involving nuclear-capable American aircraft.

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA, 12 March 2023 (IDN) — (IDN) — European parliamentarians have emphasized the need for taking "concrete steps" towards nuclear disarmament so that it becomes "a priority for the year 2023". This, they said, should be "complementary to stigmatising nuclear weapons and strengthening disarmament treaties such as the TPNW", the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons., which entered into force on 22 January 2021. [P 32] ITALIAN | JAPANESE | SWEDISH

By Tariq Rauf*

VIENNA, 7 March 2023 (IDN) — Coming up to the eighteen-month mark following the announcement of the AUKUS agreement on the supply of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to struggle to deal with the challenge put up by naval nuclear propulsion to the implementation, efficacy and credibility of the Agency’s nuclear safeguards (verification) system.