ARMAMENTS

Photo: Test of the LG-118A Peacekeeper missile, each one of which could carry 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads along trajectories outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Doubts Whether Space Is Being Used Only for Peaceful Purposes

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – A Soviet cosmonaut and an American astronaut shook hands high above the planet Earth, on July 17, 1975, where the Soviet spaceship Soyuz-19 and the U.S. spacecraft Apollo had met and docked.

In a message of greeting, the Soviet leadership described the "joint flight of the Soviet and US spaceships" as "a major step in the development of Soviet-American scientific and technological cooperation" opening up "new prospects for various countries to work together in the peaceful exploration of outer space".

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 06 December 2020

Photo: The U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) fires a Standard Missile-3 during exercise Formidable Shield 2017 over the Atlantic Ocean, Oct. 15, 2017. Credit: U.S. Navy.

Missile Defence Plans Threaten to Trigger Arms Race

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | WASHINGTON (IDN) – President Trump's legacy is far from inspiring. Joe Biden and his team face numerous crucial decisions. Arms policy experts believe that one of the momentous decisions confronting the new administration is "whether and how to move forward with Trump-era plans to expand the U.S. national missile defence footprint with new sea-based missiles that can shoot down long-range ballistic missiles". But this will undoubtedly hamper progress on arms control.

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 04 December 2020

Photo: Aircraft carrier of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy.

China to Add Long-Range Bombers and Other Arsenal in the Next Five Years

By Sahil Mishra *

NEW DELHI | BEIJING (IDN) – The highly publicised fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded at the end of October 2020 with an important communiqué which outlines the main objectives of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the long-term vision to realize socialist modernization by 2035.

Among many political, and economic measures, one aspect that emerged from the four-day closed-door meeting is that China will endeavour to develop modern and advanced weapons and equipment over the next five years.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 25 November 2020

Faith-based & Other NGOs Look Forward to Entry into Force of the Nuclear Ban Treaty

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – When she learned that the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) reached the 50 states parties required for its entry into force, Setsuko Thurlow said: "I was not able to stand. I remained in my chair and put my head in my hands, and I cried tears of joy. … I found myself speaking with the spirits of hundreds of thousands of people who lost their lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I was immediately in conversation with these beloved souls. …I was reporting to the dead, sharing this good news first with them, because they paid the ultimate price with their precious lives."

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 10 November 2020

Photo: Trump's new apparently low-yield nuclear warhead entered production in 2019. Credit: Ronald Gutridge/U.S. Navy.

Nuclear Weapons Are Illegal Under International Law

A Landmark Victory for the United Nations

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) reached on October 24 the required 50 signatories for its entry into force on January 22, 2021. It will eventually make nuclear weapons — the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction — illegal under international law.

Unquestionably, it is a landmark victory for the United Nations that continually for 75 years had on its agenda the issues relating to disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons. It is remarkable that it coincided with the UN’s 75th anniversary, and also the infamous use of atomic bombs in August 1945.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 07 November 2020

A Rallying Call for Nuclear Weapons Elimination By 2045

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan's Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York has joined the call of civil society for achieving the global elimination of nuclear weapons at least by 2045, arguing that setting the 2045 goal would provide a global rallying call to build a strong movement and that would leave no room for being dismissed as unrealistically early by those who rely on nuclear deterrence.

They were speaking at a Webinar on November 2, co-sponsored by Basel Peace Office, IDN-InDepthNews, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), UNFOLD ZERO and #wethepeoples2020. It explored the political value of setting 2045, the 100th anniversary of the United Nations, as the target date by which the global elimination of nuclear weapons should be achieved, if not before.

: J Nastranis; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 05 November 2020

Featured image: Greenpeace activists protest outside the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) shareholder’s meeting held at The Prince Park Tower in Tokyo. They hold a banner which reads: “TEPCO: The worst Ever Polluting Company.” TEPCO is the operator of the crisis-stricken Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant which has been emitting radion since it was struck by an earthquake and tsunami on March 2011. The activists also raised a banner reading “No more nuclear” in Japanese, asking TEPCO to disengage from the nuclear industry.

Almost Unnoticed Nuclear Pandemic Is Spreading in Japan

By Manlio Dinucci

This article was originally published in Italian on Il Manifesto. It is being republished from Global Research. Manlio Dinucci is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

MONTREAL (IDN) – It was not Covid-19, therefore the news went almost unnoticed: Japan will release over a million tons of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. The catastrophic incident in Fukushima was triggered by the Tsunami that struck the north-eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011, submerging the power plant and causing the core of three nuclear reactors to melt.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 05 November 2020

Photo. The Trinity test of the Manhattan Project was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, which led J. Robert Oppenheimer to recall verses from the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one "... "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds". Source: Wikimedia Commons.

US Pressurizes TPNW Signatories Triggering Uncertainty About Nuclear-Weapons-Free World

By Thalif Deen *

NEW YORK (IDN) – Responding to a question, Albert Einstein, the German-born physicist who won the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics, predicted rather ominously: “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

Einstein, who regretted the marginal role he played in the creation of the atomic bomb, was implicit in his warning of a world going back to a pre-historic stone age — in case it is annihilated by nuclear weapons in a third world war.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 01 November 2020

Photo: Setsuko Thurlow, Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Setsuko Thurlow: The TPNW – A Game Changer in Nuclear Disarmament

The following is the text of the Statement by Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and long time campaigner for nuclear-weapons abolition, as the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) reached the 50 states parties required for its entry into force. ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons published the Statement on its website.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has entered into force! This truly marks the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons! When I learned that we reached our 50th ratification, I was not able to stand. I remained in my chair and put my head in my hands and I cried tears of joy. I have committed my life to the abolition of nuclear weapons. I have nothing but gratitude for all who have worked for the success of our treaty. I have a powerful feeling of solidarity with tens of thousands of people across the world. We have made it to this point.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 October 2020

Photo: Collage of ICAN, NCNP and WSLF pictures.

The U.S. Should Embrace TPNW's Vision of a More Democratic World

The following is text of the Statement of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) and Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) are affiliates of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), a partner of the 2017 Nobel Peace laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

NEW YORK (IDN) – Fifty states have ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). By its terms, the treaty will enter into force in 90 days, becoming legally binding for states that have joined the treaty.