Count-Down Begins For No-Brainer: Extend New START Treaty February 5, 2020
By Matt Korda and Hans M. Kristensen One year from today, on February 5, 2021, the New START treaty will expire, unless the United States and Russia act to extend…
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Spanish-language vaccine news stories hosting malware disseminated via URL shorteners
Key Highlights Compared to our September report, this update discovered a much larger Spanish-language news network of COVID-19 vaccine stories with embedded malware files for all major vaccines. Now, through link-shortening services such as bit.ly, a third-party has disseminated vaccine-related malware across Latin America. The news of a possible adverse…
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Trump Administration Again Refuses To Disclose Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Size
The Trump administration has denied a request from the Federation of American Scientists to disclose the size of the US nuclear weapons stockpile and the number of dismantled warheads. The denial was made by the Department of Defense Formerly Restricted Data Declassification Working Group (FDR DWG) in response to a…
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Trump Jr: “Declassify Everything!!!”
On November 8 Donald J. Trump Jr., the President's oldest son, tweeted: "DECLASSIFY EVERYTHING!!!" adding "We can't let the bad actors get away with it." This was not an actual policy proposal and it was not seriously intended for classification officials or even for Trump's own father, who as President is…
Read moreUS Stands By the Chemical Weapons Convention February 4, 2020
While the Trump Administration has retreated from negotiated arms control agreements in many areas ranging from nuclear weapons to anti-personnel landmines, the…
Read moreState of the Union: Frequently Asked Questions, and More from CRS February 4, 2020
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. History, Evolution, and Practices of the President’s State of the Union Address:…
Read moreUS Deploys New Low-Yield Nuclear Submarine Warhead January 29, 2020
By William M. Arkin* and Hans M. Kristensen The USS Tennessee (SSBN-734) at sea. The Tennessee is believed to have deployed on an operational patrol in…
Read moreWhat do Putin’s constitutional changes mean for Russian nuclear launch authority? January 27, 2020
Putin will have no choice but to redesign Russia’s nuclear launch authority if he intends to keep his finger on the nuclear button.
Read moreChina’s New DF-26 Missile Shows Up At Base In Eastern China January 21, 2020
By Hans M. Kristensen Pictures taken recently by Maxar Technologies’ satellites show a large number of launchers for the DF-26 intermediate-range missile operating at a training site approximately 9 kilometers…
Read moreNNSA Moves to Expand Plutonium Pit Production January 13, 2020
The National Nuclear Security Administration said last week that it will proceed with a plan to sharply expand production of plutonium “pits” — the…
Read moreWhite House Rebuffs Declassification, Disclosure Requirements December 23, 2019
Congress adopted numerous new disclosure and reporting requirements in the government spending bill that was signed into law last week. But the Trump White House said that many of them…
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