Nuclear weapon strikes more likely than at any time since Cold War, report claims

The likelihood of nuclear missile strikes has shot up to the highest level since the end of the Cold War, a new report has claimed.

After 35 years of gradual de-escalation, flare-ups between nuclear-armed states are predicted to continue into the next decade, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an arms watchdog.

At the height of the Cold War - a nuclear stalemate between Russia and the US - there were almost 70,000 warheads circulating across the globe.