Latest news

The nuclear weapons of the great powers
Chinese nuclear weapons bases are being expanded: “Never seen anything like this”

China is quietly expanding several of its nuclear weapons facilities on a large scale, Reuters reports. The news agency has reviewed new satellite images that show thousands of square kilometers filled with launch sites, bunkers and other buildings.

– I have never seen anything like this. It is an extraordinary effort, says Hans Kristensen at the Federation of American Scientists' nuclear technology department.

The purpose of the expansion may be to protect the Chinese nuclear arsenal from attack and ensure that China can fight back after an initial nuclear attack from the United States.

Security in Europe
EU summit: Oil dependence could become a weapon against Europe

The EU's dependence on fossil fuels could be used as a weapon by the Union's enemies. This is what Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra says, according to Politico.

– I understand that people are panicking about this great dependence.

Hoekstra's statement is backed by Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, who says that the EU needs to expand the production of fossil-free energy.

Oil accounts for 33 percent of Europe's energy production and fossil gas 24 percent, according to the IEA.

Political situation in the UK
80,000 Makerfield residents determine the future of the UK

The UK is at a crossroads and it is the 80,000 residents of Makerfield who will determine the country's future, writes The Times.

In an upcoming by-election, Labour mayor Andy Burnham will face Reform UK's Robert Kenyon. If Burnham wins, the way is open for him to challenge Keir Starmer and perhaps become the new prime minister. If Kenyon wins, he will have both stopped Burnham, taken over one of Labour's safest strongholds and taken another step towards a Reform government.

“The voters in Makerfield are likely to shape who our next prime minister will be,” Jon Tonge, a professor of political science at Liverpool University, told the BBC.

In the latest opinion polls, Burnham is leading by three percentage points.

Midterm elections in the US
Representative missing for months: “Nobody knows where he is”

Republican Representative Tom Kean Jr. has not voted or been seen in almost three months, writes the Washington Post.

– No one knows where he is and as far as I understand, the speaker does not really know what the situation is, says a Republican official.

The disappearance comes especially inopportunely because the Republican majority on several important issues is thin. Last week, a proposal to stop the Iran war was stopped by a vote of 212 to 212.

Tom Kean Jr. told the New Jersey Globe in a rare telephone interview last week that he has been ill and will return to work shortly. He did not want to say what illness he was suffering from.

Forbes reports that Kean's house appears to be abandoned, but that he has continued to trade stocks during his absence.

Ebola Outbreak
Court says no to US plan for Ebola victims

A Kenyan court has blocked a US plan to quarantine Americans in the country during the Ebola outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa, reports the Washington Post.

The plan was for Americans who had either been infected by or exposed to the virus to be placed in a temporary hospital at an air base built by the US.

The civil rights group Katiba Institute took the issue to court, partly because it believes Kenya lacks a contingency plan.

School fire in Kenya
Girls arrested for arson at school – 16 dead

Kenyan police have arrested eight students suspected of starting the fire that broke out at a girls' school on Thursday night, reports AP.

16 students died in the fire, which broke out in one of the boarding school's dormitories. Another 79 people are said to have been injured.

According to the country's Education Minister Julius Ogamba, two teachers knew that the suspected girls were "planning something". But according to him, the school is said to have taken no measures to prevent the fire, writes Reuters.