Nuclear war could kill 5000000000 people in just 72 minutes, but these two countries might survive deadly war due to..., they are...
Once dismissed as a relic of the Cold War, the threat of nuclear war looms larger than ever, casting a shadow that could lead to unimaginable devastation. Investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen explores this daunting reality, painting a harrowing picture of the catastrophic fallout that could ensue if global tensions spiral into a full-scale nuclear conflict. Astonishingly, she warns that such an event could obliterate up to five billion lives within a mere 72 minutes.
Imagine this: the President of the United States would have only six minutes to make a life-and-death decision about launching a retaliatory nuclear strike, relying on the secrets locked within a classified document known as the 'Black Book.' Despite significant advancements in technology, the time it takes for intercontinental ballistic missiles to reach their targets remains uncannily consistent since the Cold War, roughly 26 minutes and 40 seconds from Russia to the U.S. East Coast.
The immediate human toll of a nuclear exchange would be staggering, but Jacobsen urges us to consider the dire long-term consequences. The world could plunge into a 'nuclear winter,' where agricultural lands, once fertile lands like Iowa and Ukraine, become entombed in snow and ice for years. This chilling scenario could lead to widespread starvation, aggravating the already dire aftermath.
But the destruction wouldn't end there. The explosions would wreak havoc on our planet's ozone layer, allowing deadly levels of solar radiation to bombard Earth. Survivors might find themselves seeking refuge underground, desperate to escape the lethal rays of sunlight. With most of the population and critical infrastructure annihilated, organised society could unravel completely.
Yet amidst this grim outlook, there's a glimmer of hope. Jacobsen points to New Zealand and Australia as potential sanctuaries. Their geographical isolation places them out of range of likely targets, and their favorable climates and agricultural capabilities position them as possible havens for life amidst the chaos.
While the specter of nuclear war may feel like a whisper from the past, Jacobsen's compelling research serves as a stark reminder that the threat is all too real. Her work resounds as both a warning and a call to action, urging our global leaders to prioritise nuclear de-escalation in an increasingly volatile world. The stakes could not be higher, and it's time we take this threat seriously.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Purge, paranoia, and power: Inside China's black box - Is Xi Jinping losing control?
Beneath the surface, Xi is facing friction on multiple fronts. TL;DR: Xi Jinping still rules unchallenged, but his control now relies more on loyalty than performance. Top generals purged, including close allies, fueling questions about cracks in the military. Xi's visibility is down, and key commissions are less active - a shift or a retreat? rumours swirl, but most are speculation fueled by secrecy and wishful thinking. Public unrest and economic stress are rising, especially among youth and the middle class. No successor in sight - Xi looks set to rule indefinitely, despite mounting pressure. Driving the news In recent months, speculation about the stability of President Xi Jinping's rule has reached a fever pitch, fueled by high-profile purges in China's military, unusual absences from key international summits, and a steady churn of rumours about elite infighting. But is Xi really losing control-or is the rumour mill just a symptom of the opacity that has long defined Chinese politics? Rumours about the inner workings of the Communist Party are nothing new. As Karishma Vaswani of Bloomberg notes, 'Hearsay about the inner workings of the Politburo has a long tradition of being wholly inaccurate.' Speculation surged after Xi skipped the BRICS summit in Brazil - a first since taking office - and continued as over 20 senior military officers vanished or were removed from posts, including Admiral Miao Hua and Politburo member He Weidong. But experts warn: The truth is more complex than the rumours suggest. Why it matters Xi is the most powerful Chinese leader in decades. Some analysts call Xi 'president-for-life'. He controls the party, the state, and the military. If there's instability in his leadership, it would be the most significant political event in China since Mao - with ripple effects for the global economy, US-China relations, and regional stability in Asia. No clear successor: Xi's refusal to groom or name an heir creates a dangerous vacuum. A sudden health emergency could spark chaos at the top of the Communist Party. Opaque signals: Beijing watchers have turned back to 'Pekingology,' the Cold War-era practice of decoding state media, absences, and seating charts to assess political power - a sign of just how tightly controlled information has become. High stakes for Taiwan: The purges have also affected units reportedly tasked with preparing for a Taiwan invasion. That has caught the attention of US intelligence, which sees cracks in China's chain of command - or at least in its discipline. The big picture Despite the rumours, most analysts agree Xi remains firmly in charge. But his governing style appears to be shifting - subtly and strategically. 'He guides the world's second-biggest economy and its largest armed forces seemingly unchallenged,' the Economist wrote. 'Yet analysts now whisper that Mr Xi's governing style may be changing in subtle ways.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Get Your Personalized IQ Certificate Today Try Now Undo Delegation over domination: Xi is sending lieutenants - like Li Qiang, Cai Qi, and Ding Xuexiang - to manage critical commissions and international trips. In 2025, he skipped BRICS and sent Li instead. Decline in meetings: Some of Xi's signature commissions, including the one on economic reform, haven't publicly met since August 2024. Communiqués are shorter, suggesting fewer decisions. Purges as a strategy: Over 400,000 officials are under investigation since April 2024, according to the Economist. In the military, top brass close to Xi have been targeted - a sign he may be preemptively removing threats inside his own tightening of control, even within his base, points to a leader who's preparing to rule indefinitely - but from a more remote, less visible perch. The purges shouldn't necessarily indicate that Xi is safe, although he's certainly cemented power within his base. He will likely rule China until he 'goes to meet Marx,' as the saying goes. An Opinion in Bloomberg What they're saying Not everyone buys the coup chatter. Most seasoned observers argue Xi is not on the verge of collapse — but that doesn't mean everything is stable either. 'Despite the noise, no one has credibly explained how a leader who dominates every significant CCP organization could be toppled,' writes Michael Cunningham of the Lowy Institute. 'He will likely rule China until he 'goes to meet Marx,' as the saying goes,' Asia Society's Center for China Analysis wrote in a report. 'At every stage, he's defied convention to solidify his grip.' In their twilight years, both Mao and Deng Xiaoping fragmented authority to ensure that subordinates served as counterweights to prevent any one gaining too much influence. They became oracle-like, pontificating on ideology from behind a curtain. Over time Mr Xi may come to shape such a system—one where ultimate power remains his, even in absentia. An article in the Economist Still, challenges are mounting: Retired Party elders: Like Wen Jiabao and Li Ruihuan have criticized Xi's economic policies and mishandling of US relations, according to Radio Free Asia. While they lack direct power, their discontent underscores elite unease. Red aristocrats' or princelings, including those in exile, are reportedly sharing kompromat with foreign intelligence agencies - a risky but potentially destabilizing factor. Middle-class anger is rising amid a stagnant economy, rising unemployment, and censorship over local scandals like the student suicide in Shaanxi Province that led to violent protests. PLA grumbling: While a military coup remains highly unlikely, the recent sidelining of high-ranking officers, many with ties to Xi from his Fujian days, suggests serious internal friction. Even the PLA Daily - the military's official mouthpiece - recently promoted 'collective leadership,' a not-so-subtle rebuke of Xi's longstanding 'one-man rule' mantra. Between the lines The growing perception that Xi may be centralizing too much power - even for an autocrat - could erode internal loyalty over time. 'Those chosen for their loyalty may lack experience, shy away from delivering bad news, or see opportunities for graft,' the Economist warned. Xi himself seemed to acknowledge this when he told the Politburo, 'The string of self-revolution must be tightened even further.' There is little evidence Xi has begun preparing for succession. That's a red flag for analysts who recall how leadership vacuums in China have historically led to chaos - from Lin Biao's plane crash in 1971 to post-Deng power struggles. Instead, Xi appears to be reducing personal exposure while ensuring his ideological agenda is institutionalized through rules, written directives, and tightly controlled personnel decisions. Some observers suggest this is a strategy for long-term rule: less presence, more permanence. What's next The clearest signs of real trouble for Xi would be overt - not rumours. 'If some of Xi's closest allies - Cai Qi or Ding Xuexiang - are targeted, that will be a more likely sign of trouble,' notes * Institute's* Cunningham. Right now, purged officials like He Weidong, though powerful, are not considered part of Xi's innermost circle. Their fall suggests a shakeup - not a power struggle. As Asia Society notes, Xi's refusal to name a successor is no accident. Installing one would weaken his grip and create a rival power center. Naming no one ensures everyone remains beholden to him - but also makes China's future deeply uncertain. And that uncertainty has consequences: For the economy: Xi's mix of state-led stimulus and repression of private enterprise has underperformed. Even EV giants like BYD and SAIC are over-leveraged. For foreign relations: A softer tone with Washington, especially ahead of President Donald Trump's inauguration, may reflect desperation rather than détente. For stability: As purges continue and confidence erodes, even within the elite, the line between strength and fear starts to blur. The bottom line: So, is Xi Jinping losing control? Not exactly. But he is entering a phase where maintaining control requires more energy, more surveillance, more loyalty tests-and fewer missteps. He still commands the Party, the military, and the machinery of the state. But cracks are showing. Not enough to break him, yet-but enough to make the question impossible to ignore. The emperor still rules. But he's looking over his shoulder.
India Today
5 hours ago
- India Today
How an India-US spy mission lost a nuclear device in the Himalayas
In February 2021, devastating flash floods struck Uttarakhand, killing around 80 people, leaving 124 missing, and completely wiping out two hydropower projects. A theory resurfaced that a lost nuclear-powered surveillance device, abandoned at 25,000 feet in the Himalayas in 1965 during a joint US-India expedition to Nanda Devi, might have contributed to the disaster by melting snow and triggering avalanches. But that, thankfully, was not the investigations identified a different cause: a massive rock and ice avalanche, triggered by the collapse of a hanging glacier near Ronti Peak. The sheer force of the falling mass generated enough heat and momentum to release a deadly surge of water, debris, and silt down the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers, resulting in the sudden catastrophic lost nuclear device from the Nanda Devi Plutonium Mission has returned to public discourse with every natural calamity in Uttarakhand, be it the 2021 disaster or the 2018 cloudburst, or the more recent incident of Joshimath's subsidence. The device was reportedly a listening device to keep tabs on China's nuclear programme being installed in the high Himalayas by India and the US. It was a covert operation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of India, according to also a theory that the device, which was lost in a blizzard in 1965, was later retrieved by India for reverse-engineering decades later in 2025, nuclear anxieties are surging once again. First, a radiation scare in Pakistan's Kirana Hills, then missile strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, brought back anxieties about the risks of nuclear May, reports of a radiation leak at Pakistan's Kirana Hills, a suspected nuclear storage site, sparked concern, but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed no radiation leak had occurred. Subsequently, US missile strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz in June raised fears of radiological leaks, though there was no evidence of story of the long-buried 1965 plutonium mission to Nanda Devi has regained relevance and interest against this it's an opportune moment to revisit why India partnered with the CIA during the Cold War; why a nuclear-powered surveillance device was carried into the icy heights of the Himalayas; how the CIA and India's Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) collaborated and tried to deploy the thermonuclear generator device, codenamed "Guru Rinpoche", there; how it got lost, and why, even today, that lost device continues to cast a radioactive shadow over the to the mystery, a year later, when a recovery team went back to locate the device, they found it had vanished from the EVEREST TRIUMPH AND BACKDOOR CIA TIESThe story began not with espionage, but with May 1965, a team of Indian mountaineers, led by Navy officer Captain Mohan Singh Kohli, became the first Indian team to successfully scale Mount who had been inducted into the ITBP for his mountaineering skills, returned home a hero. In June, the team led by Kohli was welcomed in New Delhi by ministers, military brass, and intelligence officers."Immediately after the return of the 1965 Indian Everest Expedition to New Delhi on 23 June, I was asked to lead a covert Himalayan expedition to Nanda Devi involving leading mountaineers, intelligence officials, nuclear scientists and daredevil pilots, drawn from both the USA and India," Mohan Singh Kohli noted in his 2003 book, 'Sherpas, the Himalayan Legends'. Captain Mohan Singh Kohli (retd) (L), a distinguished officer of the Indian Navy and a renowned mountaineer, led India's first Indian Everest Expedition in 1965. The summit saw nine climbers conquer the summit, setting a world record that remained unbeaten for 13 years. (Images: PIB/IndiaPost) advertisementOne among them was Balbir Singh, a senior intelligence official, who quietly pulled Kohli aside and introduced him to RN Kao, then a low-profile officer but a razor-sharp chief of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC), the elite wing under India's Intelligence Bureau (IB).Kao, who would go on to found RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), was then heading India's covert aerial reconnaissance programme. Kohli was told he would soon travel to the United States. No explanation was given. He didn't even have a passport, but one had already been arranged, Kohli was Kohli didn't know then was that he was about to be roped into a secret CIA-ARC collaboration, one that combined mountaineering and HIMALAYAS BECAME SPY CENTRE; COLD WAR AT 25,000 FEETIn 1964, Communist China detonated its first nuclear bomb in Lop Nur, rattled both the Capitalist United States and China's neighbour, surveillance was still rudimentary, and the Americans were desperate for closer access to seismic and radiological data from China's nuclear test sites. India's newly forged friendship with the US provided an plan: install a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), codenamed "Guru Rinpoche", on a Himalayan ridge near the Nanda Devi peak (7,817 metres/ 25,646 feet), close to the Tibetan there was no source of electricity at that height, it was planned that the RTG would power a listening device to detect and transmit signals from China's nuclear experiments. Heat signatures, seismic waves, and radiation levels from China were to be collected and traditional batteries, the RTG was designed to operate without maintenance for years, with a core of Plutonium-238, which was highly RTG and the surveillance equipment weighed over 50 kilograms. Lugging it up the icy slopes of the Himalayas would take dozens of a team comprising ITBP mountaineers, American operatives, and, most importantly, Sherpas was assembled to haul it up one of the world's most treacherous routes and place it on a ridge close to the peak. China's first successful atomic bomb explosion, in 1964, spooked both the US and India. (Image: People's Pictorial, January 1965 issue) advertisementHOW BLIZZARD STOPPED CIA-IB'S NUCLEAR CLIMB TO NANDA DEVIBy mid-September 1965, Kohli and the joint CIA-ITBP team started the mission to carry the device up Nanda Devi and reached the base the unpredictable weather, the team pushed ahead, and set up a series of several stocked-up camps along the ascent was planned that a team of Sherpas would first ferry the heavy surveillance equipment from Camp IV to a suitable point near the summit. Once that was done, a second team, comprising two Indian and two American climbers, would climb up, and assemble the nuclear-powered device in a secure position and crank it by October 16, when the mission reached Camp IV with the nuclear device, nature had other plans. A severe blizzard rolled and the threat of avalanches made progress impossible. Kohli reluctantly made the call to visibility dropping and safety at stake, the team anchored the device securely into a crevice, hoping to retrieve and install it once conditions improved. They lashed the RTG to a rock at Camp IV, planning to return after the winter thaw, noted Kohli in his 2003 weather conditions and the remote location, however, allowed no further movement that season. The climbers descended, leaving behind not just their cargo, but the first signs of a future mystery. A view of the Nanda Devi and its sibling peaks from Uttarakhand's Nainital. (Image: Unsplash) HOW NUCLEAR DEVICE DISAPPEARED IN HIMALAYAS WITHOUT A TRACEWhen the recovery team returned in 1966, the device was mountaineer GS Bhangu, who also assented the Everest and the covert Nanda Devi expedition in 1965 along with Kohli, led the expedition with six Sherpas."Bhangu rushed to the rock with which he had secured the equipment in 1965. The rock ledge had broken down! There was no sign of the nuclear-powered generator. For a moment, Bhangu stood stunned and motionless. He frantically looked around. During the winter, tons of fresh snow must have fallen on Nanda Devi. Under its weight the device must have broken off the rock-ledge and gone down. To where?," noted Kohli in his rock it had been tied to had disappeared. A snowstorm or avalanche had likely swept it away."The Nanda Devi slopes were soon scoured by climbers and Sherpas trying to locate the abandoned device. The Sherpas had never been used for such work. They took it in their stride and went about this new task with great sincerity. After several days of strenuous work, they all drew a blank," wrote was a high-risk failure and a big setback. The disappearance of a nuclear device in one of the world's most ecologically sensitive and densely populated watersheds triggered alarm in both Washington and New TRACE OF NANDA DEVI N-DEVICE DESPITE SEARCH OPsThe CIA and Indian intelligence two years, search missions combed the mountain, hoping to locate the RTG before it ruptured or slid further into the valley. But Nanda Devi, 25,643 feet tall and often shrouded in ice storms, revealed internal reports, the CIA acknowledged the loss of the plutonium-powered device. The Indian government, fearing public outrage and scrutiny, never officially admitted its role in the operation until decades radiation leak has ever been confirmed.A 1978 Indian Atomic Energy Commission survey found no plutonium traces in the region, but also could not locate the 1967, two years after the Nanda Devi mission was aborted, a similar device was successfully installed on nearby Nanda Kot, a lower and less treacherous peak. That surveillance post functioned for a few months, gathering intelligence before its electronics failed. Eventually, the US transitioned to non-nuclear, solar-powered devices and later, more sophisticated satellite CIA-India nuclear mission was quietly buried under official secrecy, until it was publicly acknowledged by Kohli, and reported in the Indian and American press in the 1990s and early 2000s. A map marking Nanda Kot, the peak where a nuclear-powered surveillance device was eventually installed in 1967 after the attempt to do that at Nanda Devi failed in 1965. (Image: CIA Archive) In 1978, when the issue reached Prime Minister Morarji Desai, after questions were raised in the US, he was compelled to respond publicly by appointing a high-level scientific committee to investigate the matter, assess potential environmental dangers, and recommend steps to locate the missing nuclear device and prevent future American author Broughton Coburn, in his book 'The Vast Unknown: America's First Ascent of Everest', claimed that members of Indian intelligence agencies might have secretly trekked up the Nanda Devi route before the official spring recovery mission and retrieved the device, possibly to study its design or extract the plutonium without informing the over half a century has passed, the spectre of the Nanda Devi device has never quite and scientists continue to express concerns over radioactive contamination if the RTG were to rupture due to geological tectonic shifts or glacial as the world confronts fresh nuclear threats, from Iran to Pakistan, the missing nuclear device on Nanda Devi, which is likely buried under snow, but resurfaces regularly in the minds of people. It is an unsolved mystery that keeps spooking people.- Ends
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Understanding dictatorship and dictators: how did it all start?
A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government characterised by a leader or a group of leaders who wield governmental power with little to no constraints. They are either authoritarian or totalitarian and can be categorised as military dictatorships, one-party dictatorships, personalist dictatorships, or absolute monarchies. Although both authoritarian and totalitarian governments concentrate power in the hands of a single ruler, totalitarianism has far more control over every facet of life than authoritarianism. Authoritarianism typically allows for some level of social and economic autonomy, whereas totalitarianism seeks to eliminate all independent spheres of influence. How does a dictatorship work? Politics in a dictatorship is controlled by the dictator and facilitated by an inner circle of elites that includes advisers, generals, and other high-ranking officials. By influencing and appeasing the inner circle and suppressing any opposition—which could include disloyal members of the dictator's inner circle, rival political parties, or armed resistance—the dictator keeps power. The term 'dictator' originated in the early Roman Republic to refer to a constitutional office that granted a leader temporary absolute power to deal with an emergency. History of dictatorship The office of a dictator once had a very different meaning from how we think of it today. In ancient Rome, a dictator was a temporary position with full authority for a set period of time (usually six months). This was not an inherently negative role; it was a legal and constitutional position. The Roman Senate established it in 510 BC to deal with emergencies such as rebellions. The first officially appointed dictator was Titus Larcius in 501 BC. Dictators could not be held legally accountable for their actions, had power over all other politicians, and typically held office for no more than six months. Along with changing the constitution and Roman law, they were also prohibited from leaving Italy and from using any public funds other than those provided by the Senate. Dictators usually used to leave office once their tasks were completed, even if their six-month term had not yet expired. Types of dictatorships Personalist dictatorships are regimes where all power is concentrated in a single individual. The dictator controls key political positions and the treasury, often relying on a close-knit elite made up of friends or family. These dictators may belong to the military or a political party, but they hold ultimate authority over both. Since the end of the Cold War, the prevalence of personalist dictatorships has increased. One-party dictatorships are governments in which a single political party dominates politics and only the party in power is legalised, sometimes along with minor allied parties, and all opposition parties are banned. One-party dictatorships are sometimes more stable than other forms of authoritarian rule, as they are often less susceptible to insurgency and see higher economic growth. In a military dictatorship, power is held by one or more military officers and is usually led by either a single individual (often referred to as a strongman) or a council (known as a junta). These regimes are typically established through coups or other forms of military intervention. Monarchic dictatorships are characterised by a system where the head of state (king, queen, emperor, etc.) inherits their position, often through a line of succession. There are various types of monarchies, and an absolute monarchy, where the monarch holds unlimited power, is a type of dictatorship. There are also other monarchies, like a constitutional monarchy, where the monarch's power is limited by a constitution or other governing bodies. Examples from the past Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Born in Austria, he rose to power as the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party). Hitler led Germany into World War II by invading Poland in 1939. His aggressive expansionism and racist ideology led to immense destruction and the Holocaust (a genocide led by the Nazi party to execute European Jews). Benito Mussolini was an Italian political leader and the founder of Fascism. He was the Prime Minister of Italy from 1922 until 1943, during which he established a totalitarian regime. Mussolini promoted aggressive nationalism, suppressed opposition, and sought to restore the glory of the Roman Empire. In 1936, he allied with Nazi Germany and later joined World War II on Hitler's side. Idi Amin Dada Oumee was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern world history. His rule continued until he was removed by armed groups of exiles in 1979. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet politician, revolutionary, and leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 to 1952 and the fourth premier of the Soviet Union from 1941. His governance started as part of a collective leadership, but soon he consolidated power to become an absolute dictator by the 1930s. Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France from 1643 until he died in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch in history. His legacy includes many iconic events from history, like the French colonial expansion.
