NORTH KOREA
Biden: North Korea must be ready for genuine negotiations
UPI — July 19, 2013
The United States is ready for dialogue with North Korea, but only if that country is prepared to engage in genuine negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said.
U.S. concerned over North Korean arms ship, Panama awaits U.N
Lomi Kriel and David Adams, Reuters — July 18, 2013
A U.N. team is due to arrive in Panama next month to inspect a North Korean ship which was seized carrying arms from Cuba, a potential breach of U.N. sanctions that the United States said was “incredibly concerning.”
Questions on North Korea-Cuba Deal
José de Córdoba, The Wall Street Journal — July 18, 2013
The foiled attempt to smuggle Soviet-era weapons to North Korea from Cuba through the Panama Canal continues to puzzle analysts, who question whether the purpose of the shipment was to have the weapons repaired in North Korea.
IRAN
More Than 100 U.S. Congressmen Call For Engaging With Iran
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — July 19, 2013
More than 100 members of the U.S. Congress have given their support to a letter calling on President Barack Obama to reengage Iran diplomatically over its nuclear program following the election of the Islamic republic’s next president.
Iran Adds Military Aid to Syria as Russia Gives Money
Nicole Gaouette, Bloomberg — July 18, 2013
Iran is increasing its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an effort to ensure its Shiite ally stays in power, a U.S. State Department official said today.
MISSILE DEFENSE
Pentagon Studies Aegis Antimissile System for Potential East Coast Use
Rachel Oswald, Global Security Newswire — July 18, 2013
The head of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency on Wednesday said that Aegis antimissile technology is being studied for use at a possible new missile-interceptor site on the U.S. East Coast.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
Fallout Over Nuclear Energy Debacle Underway
Ken Silverstein, Forbes — July 19, 2013
It’s not a bombshell. But it is the fallout from the retirement of two nuclear units dotting Southern California’s coastline. Southern California Edison has just filed a so-called Notice of Dispute on its former vendor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries….It is the first step toward gaining a settlement in what has become a huge blemish on the nuclear energy sector — the leakage of radiation at one of the units and the subsequent revelation that both companies had known about the underlying causes years before the incident.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Nuclear Doomsday is Coming Today. You’ll Want to See This
Elaine Grossman, Global Security Newswire — July 18, 2013
It’s Thursday, July 18, and nuclear Armageddon is upon us. Or at least you might be excused for thinking so when you glimpse on your colleague’s computer monitor a compelling simulation of a mushroom cloud rising over your home town…That’s the 2.0 version of NUKEMAP — now in three dimensions! — expected for launch by late Thursday, the brainchild of a guy named Alex Wellerstein.
