₦airaland Forum

Critics of Trump counter that his first administration ripped up a previous Obama-era deal to monitor Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and is now trying to strike a similar agreement after three months of war has failed to achieve regime change in Tehran or the destruction of its nuclear program.

Kim Jong Un inspects new nuclear plant, plans ‘exponential’ weapons production ramp-up

Kim Jong Un inspected a new plant that makes weapons-grade nuclear material on Wednesday and said Pyongyang plans to “beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate,” according to a report from state-run media.

The North Korean leader said that his country has more than doubled its capacity to produce weapons-grade nuclear material in the past five years and that the new plant will help strengthen its nuclear war deterrent, according to the report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim instituted the push for more nuclear weapons under a five-year plan that was implemented after denuclearization talks with the United States, including three meetings with US President Donald Trump during his first term, ended in failure.

News of the new North Korean nuclear plant comes as Washington is trying to strike a deal to end the months-old US-Israeli war with Iran and get Tehran to give up nuclear materials that it could develop into nuclear weapons.

North Korea already has enough nuclear material for up to 90 warheads and is believed to have assembled around 50, according to a Congressional Research Service report from March.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in March that North Korea has at least two active nuclear enrichment plants, one in Yongbyon and another in Kangson.

The agency said it was monitoring the construction of a new building at Yongbyon “which has dimensions and infrastructure, including power supply and cooling capacity, similar to the Kangson enrichment facility.”

“The new building is externally complete and internal fitting is likely underway,” the IAEA report said.

In April testimony to the US House Armed Services Committee, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. James Adams, said Pyongyang was “building a probable additional uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon.”

Whether the facility Kim toured on Wednesday is that new Yongbyon facility or another previously unknown plant could not be determined. The KCNA report did not give a location.

This is at least the third time since September 2024 that state media has published photos of Kim inspecting a uranium enrichment or nuclear material production facility.

Thursday’s KCNA report said the new nuclear plant employed “more sophisticated technology,” and images provided by North Korea showed Kim walking among rows of centrifuges.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, told CNN the new facility reveals a maturation and scaling of North Korea’s nuclear program.

The report “gives the impression that the center of the gravity has shifted from ‘research and production’ to ‘mass production and munitions’” as officials from the munitions industry and the Nuclear Weapons Institute accompanied Kim, Hong said.

Also, by publishing various photos showing the control room, processing pipes and module zone, North Korea “is intentionally highlighting the aspect of a completed factory in operation,” he said.

Highlighting production facilities over more flashy weapons tests or grand military parades shows North Korea is now projecting it has the infrastructure to make good on its plans to field a robust nuclear deterrent.

Along with building its nuclear enrichment capacity, North Korea has been testing a range of missiles over the past years, and it has successfully tested Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) capable of striking anywhere in the United States, according to the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment from the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence.

North Korea’s ascension to nuclear-power status has been cited as something Trump has been trying to prevent Iran from duplicating with Operation Epic Fury.

Critics of Trump counter that his first administration ripped up a previous Obama-era deal to monitor Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and is now trying to strike a similar agreement after three months of war has failed to achieve regime change in Tehran or the destruction of its nuclear program.


A growing North Korean nuclear arsenal is representative of a worldwide trend, according to the 2026 edition of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor.

“The number of nuclear warheads available for use by the armed forces of the world’s nine nuclear-armed states had risen to 9,745, with a combined explosive yield equating to more than 135,000 Hiroshima bombs,” the group says.

2025 was the ninth consecutive year that the number of deployable nuclear weapons increased, the report said.

Russia has the most nuclear weapons, more than 5,400, followed by the US with almost 5,300.

Abufo:
Produce for your people...........the fallacy of export-driven growth is a Western-engineered deception! Export stuff you have a price advantage and as much as possible add value b4 doing so! If we have what the world wants ..........US threat of tariffs will not amount to much

dalass:
The US is totally committed to crippling economies of Africa so that they can have weak currencies favourable for Western countries to keep buying their raw materials cheap for their own industries under any made-up story

ATTAHDYE:
I don’t think they are accusing Nigeria of practicing forced labor, rather what they are saying is, Nigeria and the others are importing good from countries that practice forced labor.

That we do not have laws against our trading partners. The US wants us to sanction countries like China and India where we source for cheap goods and forced labor is said to be practiced.

Mind you, US citizens are addicted to Chinese goods and can’t seems to have enough of cheap good from that country.

You can’t make this sh1t up, we are called a 3rd world country for a reason.

ZaddyJ:
And “By the time the night is over”

abiolert:
That's the forced labour, without proper work conditions and laws backing the workers, I think the Nigerian government should regularizes Nigeria labour laws, if you don't have what it takes to pay your staff don't Open a business.

Funkyswagzz:
Hold your local government chairman accountable and stop blaming US

U.S. moves to block market access for 8 African countries following comprehensive global forced-labor investigation

Trump’s latest trade proposal could hit exports from eight African countries with new tariffs, marking a new phase in Washington’s effort to tie market access to labour standards and supply-chain compliance.

# The U.S. has proposed new 12.5% tariffs on exports from eight African countries due to concerns over forced labor practices.

# The targeted countries are Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa.

# This measure is part of a wider investigation by the USTR involving 60 economies to assess compliance with labor standards in supply chains.

# Unlike previous tariffs targeting trade imbalances, this proposal specifically focuses on forced labor-related compliance.

The proposal, unveiled by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), targets countries that the U.S. says have failed to impose or effectively enforce restrictions on imports produced with forced labour.

Among the 60 economies investigated, eight African nations were included: Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa.

If approved, most products from these countries could be subject to an additional 12.5% tariff when entering the U.S. market. The measure remains under review and has not yet been implemented.

The proposal differs from the baseline 10% tariff introduced earlier under President Donald Trump’s reciprocal trade framework, which affected a broad range of countries as part of an effort to address trade imbalances and market-access concerns.

The new measure is more targeted, focusing specifically on labour-related trade practices rather than traditional trade metrics.

According to the USTR, economies that fail to prevent the importation of goods made with forced labour create unfair competitive advantages by allowing lower-cost products to circulate through global supply chains.

Why these African countries were included in the investigation

The eight African nations were swept into a wider U.S. investigation examining whether trading partners have legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms in place to prevent goods produced with forced labour from entering their markets.

The review covered 60 economies and included consultations with dozens of governments. Following the investigation, the USTR concluded that the affected African countries had either failed to establish effective prohibitions on forced-labour imports or had not adequately enforced existing measures.

As a result, they were placed in the category facing the proposed 12.5% tariff rate. By comparison, countries that have adopted some form of forced-labour import prohibition, or made commitments to strengthen such measures through trade agreements with the United States, would face a lower 10% duty under the proposal

For the affected African economies, the implications extend beyond the immediate tariff threat. The proposal signals a broader shift in U.S. trade policy, where access to the American market is increasingly being linked to labour practices, regulatory enforcement, and supply-chain transparency.

If adopted, the measure could raise the cost of exporting to one of the world’s largest consumer markets, adding fresh uncertainty for African exporters already navigating a challenging global trade environment.

Checkwell:
Where do you know you will meet him? Keep dreaming. Okay? Keep playing. Keep imagining meeting him again..

Kalulu44:
That song A whole new world, I don't joke with it. It's on a whole new level.

Minatouchiha:
Whoooaaaa!!! Listening to his music right now. RIP Legend.

Activist Aisha Yesufu has accused the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) of subverting the process for selecting the party’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senatorial candidate, saying she could not compromise her values in a process she described as unjust.

Yesufu made the allegation in a statement issued on Friday night, hours after announcing that the party would not be conducting primaries for the FCT Senate seat, effectively ending her bid for the ticket.

The activist had declared her intention to contest the race on May 6 after joining the NDC from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), saying her decision was inspired by the leadership experience she gained in her former party.

Her declaration came amid growing speculation that the party had already resolved to hand the FCT Senate ticket to another aspirant, Amanda Pam, who had been a member of the party before Yesufu joined.

Addressing supporters earlier on Friday, Yesufu urged them to remain calm and focus on the broader political objective ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a subsequent statement, however, she alleged that the process leading to the emergence of the party’s candidate was marred by injustice and violations of electoral guidelines.

“I understood what I was getting into. I knew that the quality of our politics has not yet risen to the occasion, that values-based candidates do not easily emerge by merit in a system built to resist them,” she said.

“But I made a decision going in: I would not compromise my values. I would stand for what is right. I did not leave advocacy to go into politics. I took advocacy into politics.”

Yesufu said she built her campaign on grassroots credibility and argued that the strength of her “SAY-Nation” movement altered the course of the party’s decision-making process.

According to her, the team became so formidable that the selection process “had to be taken out of the open and resolved through a clandestine affirmation behind closed doors.”

She further alleged that “what was billed as a primary was, in truth, a predetermined outcome dressed in procedural formalities”.

The activist claimed that the FCT senate primary process was repeatedly delayed, with venues changed at the last minute and party guidelines ignored.

“The delegate-based process was introduced to be conducted at a central location instead of direct primaries at Local Government headquarters,” she claimed.

“When the moment came, the contest was not decided by delegates in the open; it was affirmed in a closed room, away from the people whose voices it was supposed to reflect.”

She added that while the party may present the exercise as transparent, the events surrounding the process did not reflect fairness.

"The party may go on to release statements about the free and fair nature of the primary, but the facts that transpired, when weighed against conscience and the guidelines of the Electoral Act, do not reflect justice and fairness,” she said

Explaining why she did not immediately challenge the outcome, Yesufu said she preferred to learn from the experience rather than become entangled in a lengthy grievance process.

“I ran to win. But when the process was subverted, I made a choice: I would not exhaust myself in a grievance process designed to wear people down. I chose instead to extract every lesson this experience had to offer,” she said.

“I now understand the architecture of the system in ways no textbook, no punditry, no amount of outside observation could ever teach.

“That knowledge is worth more than any petition I could have filed. I leave this process with something far more valuable than a ticket; I leave with clarity

Yesufu stressed that her account was limited to her experience in the FCT Senate contest and should not be interpreted as a reflection of events in other states.

Despite her criticisms, she maintained confidence in the party’s broader political role ahead of the 2027 elections.

“Despite its shortcomings, the NDC remains the only party that has given the best presidential candidate in the 2027 electoral cycle a platform to run,” she said

The NDC had not issued an official response to the allegations as of the time of filing this report

The probe is the latest move in the department’s ceaseless, and somewhat strained, efforts to meet Trump’s demands to target his long-standing personal foes.

The Supreme Court has deferred its decision on whether to take up Trump’s appeal twelve times. The most recent deferral was made Wednesday morning.