California Gov. Gavin Newsom says there's no imminent threat to the state from Iran. ABC News says the FBI warned California that Iran had aspired to send drones to the West Coast in retaliation for war. The FBI later released text of the alert, which noted that the information was based on "unverified information." The White House now says, "No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists." Newsom says California and various agencies plan for worst-case scenarios. Police in Los Angeles and San Francisco say they are monitoring world events for any risks.
Russia's top diplomat says that Moscow will observe the limits of the last nuclear arms pact with the United States that expired last week as long as it sees that Washington does the same. The New START treaty expired Feb. 5, leaving no restrictions on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century and fueling fears of an unconstrained nuclear arms race. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that even though the U.S. hasn't responded to President Vladimir Putin's offer to maintain New START's caps for another year, Moscow will respect the treaty's limits if the U.S. observes them too.
The Kremlin says it regrets the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States, while President Donald Trump declared he was against keeping its limits and wants a better deal. The end of the New START treaty left no caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century, fueling fears of a new nuclear arms race. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed readiness Thursday to stick to the pact's limits for another year if Washington agreed. But Trump said he wants a new pact. The treaty was signed in 2010. It was extended in 2021 for five more years.
