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Graphic Truth: Seventy Years of Nuclear Weapons Tests

August 29 marked International Day Against Nuclear Tests, which aims to call attention to the effects and dangers of nuclear explosions. The economic and human cost of nuclear testing over the past seventy years has been well documented, leading to a vocal movement calling for a total ban on nuclear tests. Partial test bans were agreed during the Cold War but in 1996 the US became the first of more than 180 countries to sign a treaty that completely banned nuclear tests. Just three years later, however, the US Senate rejected it over concerns it was unenforceable and would tie Washington's hands. The treaty has not been ratified by India, Pakistan or North Korea – all of whom have tested nuclear weapons since 1996. Overall, more than 2,000 tests have been conducted by just eight countries. Here's a look at who has exploded the most nuclear warheads over the past 70 years.

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Iran war threatens water access in Middle East
Natalie Johnson, Eileen Zhang

As missiles fly and oil prices soar, the Iran war is exposing another major resource vulnerability in the Middle East: water. Fresh water has been a scarce commodity in a region defined by a dry climate and low rainfall, but attacks on the region’s desalination plants, which convert seawater into drinking water, threaten to open a new front.