NORTH KOREA
US official: China, US aligned on North Korea
The Associated Press — June 8, 2013
A top U.S. national security official says President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping found “quite a bit of alignment” on the subject of North Korea and agreed that North Korea has to be denuclearized.
North and South Korea meet, set stage for higher-level talks this week
Chico Harlan, The Washington Post — June 9, 2013
North and South Korea held a 17-hour meeting lasting from Sunday into Monday, and they agreed to reconvene this week for what would be their highest-level talks in six years.
The dialogue Sunday, at a powder-blue hut in the middle of the demilitarized zone between the Koreas, seemed to provide evidence that Seoul and Pyongyang want to back away from the hostility of recent months — a period during which the neighbors cut nearly all ties.
North Korea: A rare glance at daily life
Juliet Rix, BBC — June 9, 2013
North Korea is a difficult place for journalists to visit, but tourists are welcome so long as they do what they are told. Juliet Rix found an organised tour allowed her a glimpse of daily life under the secretive regime.
IRAN
Report: Iran takes key step in nuclear reactor construction
CNN — June 9, 2013
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was on hand Sunday as officials at a nuclear plant took a critical step toward completing a reactor, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.
Workers installed two containers on the reactor at the Arak heavy water facility in central Iran, Fars said. It quoted the head of Iran’s nuclear agency as saying he thought the reactor will be able to help produce medicine in 2014.
In Iran Race, All 8 Candidates Toe Hard Line on Nuclear Might
Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times — June 9, 2013
…when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program [all 8 candidates] are all saying the same thing: there will be no backing down, no bargaining away the nation’s perceived right to enrich uranium for power generation.
Iran watchdog denies considering banning election candidate
Yeganeh Torbati, Reuters — June 10, 2013
Iran’s Guardian Council said on Monday it was not considering barring any candidate from the June 14 presidential election, denying media reports that one of only two moderate contenders could be disqualified.
Khamenei wants no one to jolt his power in Iran vote
Marcus George, Reuters — June 10, 2013
Five days from Iran’s presidential election, these are nervy times for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who as only the second Supreme Leader in the Islamic Republic’s 34-year history answers to God and not voters.
NUCLEAR TESTING
Opinion: The long and winding road to nuclear security
Nathan Pyles, The Hill — June 10, 2013
Fifty years ago after President Kennedy’s impassioned call for an end to nuclear weapons testing as an essential step toward a state of global peace, it is time for the U.S. Senate to do its part to curb the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons states by voting to ratify the CTBT.
DEFENSE SPENDING
Will a fight over defense spending blow up the sequester?
Dylan Matthews, The Washington Post — June 7, 2013
[The budget fight] could, as Boehner says, end in a government shutdown — or it could end in a resolution that unwinds sequestration. But it’s brutally complicated and requires an understanding of one of the budget debate’s most confusing facts: There are really two sequesters.
