The war in Ukraine is shaking up politics and military planning throughout Europe—and it is worrying nations on Russia’s periphery. In late June, Germany announced it would send 4,000 troops to Lithuania (Politico, July 4, 2023).

It has been over a decade since the meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor. Since then, water used to cool the hot nuclear reactor has been stored in massive storage ponds. Now, The Guardian reports that Japan is preparing to release over 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive water into the environment—a plan already approved by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (July 23, 2023).