The global nuclear arsenal is expected to grow in the coming years for the first time since the Cold War while the risk of such weapons being used is the greatest it has been in decades.

The world’s nine nuclear-armed countries – led by the US – spent $82.4 billion upgrading their atomic arsenal in 2021, eight percent more than the previous year, an anti-nuke campaign group has unveiled.

North Korea has claimed “good results” in the fight against the country’s first confirmed coronavirus outbreak even as the number of people with fever symptoms crossed two million.

The US is set to ramp up weapons delivery to Ukraine, deepening its involvement in the simmering war in defiance of repeated warnings by arch-foe Russia.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has once again warned that his country would preemptively use nuclear weapons if threatened.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to boost the country's nuclear weapons programme in preparation for “all kinds of crises” while overseeing a military parade that displayed intercontinental ballistic missiles and other weapons.

Iran warned Israel that it is in possession of intelligence on the locations of all its nuclear weapons sites, and that the country’s Armed Forces will strike the sensitive targets in the occupied territories in the event of any aggression against the Islamic Republic, a report says.

Russia has warned that it will deploy nuclear arms near Finland and Sweden if they join the US-led NATO.

Russia reiterates its stated position on the use of nuclear weapons, saying such a move will be taken only if Moscow is faced with an existential threat.

Kremlin spokesperson says Russia's security policy dictates that the country could only use nuclear weapons if its very existence were threatened.