TOP NEWS With a piece of paper, Trump called on Kim to hand over all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons The Japan Times/Reuters Treaty’s End Would Give U.S., Russia Impetus to Make More Nukes – Study Reuters Trump issued an executive order to prepare for an EMP attack. What is it, and should you worry? Washington Post Asia/Pacific US asked North Korea to hand over all nuclear weapons: Report Al Jazeera3/30/2019 On the day their talks in Hanoi collapsed last month, US President Donald Trump handed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a piece of paper that included a blunt call for the transfer of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States, according to a document seen by Reuters news agency. With a piece of paper, Trump called on Kim to hand over all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons The Japan Times/Reuters3/30/2019 The document appeared to represent Bolton’s long-held and hard-line “Libya model” of denuclearization that North Korea has rejected repeatedly. It probably would have been seen by Kim as insulting and provocative, analysts said. Russia/FSU/Europe Treaty’s End Would Give U.S., Russia Impetus to Make More Nukes – Study Reuters4/1/2019 The demise of the only U.S.-Russia arms control pact limiting deployed nuclear weapons would make it harder for each to gauge the other’s intentions, giving both incentives to expand their arsenals, according to a study to be released on Monday. The study, produced by the CNA Corp nonprofit research group and seen by Reuters, is the most comprehensive public examination to date of the consequences of New START’s demise. Middle East Are Saudis using US energy info to get nuclear weapons? CNN3/29/2019 CNN’s Alex Marquardt reports on the Trump administration authorizing Saudi Arabia to receive American unclassified civil nuclear technology just five months after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed. Trump administration OKs nuclear energy transfers to Saudi Arabia, sparking new battle with Congress CNBC3/29/2019 The Trump administration has given permission to a handful of U.S. companies to engage in early stage nuclear energy trade with Saudi Arabia, igniting a new battle with Congress over plans to sell American-made reactors to the kingdom. The authorizations came to light over the last two days in Congressional hearings and news reports, which suggested the Trump administration is doing an end-run around Congress, facilitating secret discussions and putting the kingdom on track to develop nuclear weapons. Opinion/Analysis The Foreign Policy Fiasco That Wasn’t New York Times – Bret Stephens3/29/2019 The Trump administration has succeeded in dramatically raising the costs to Iran for its sinister behavior, at no cost to the United States or our allies. That’s the definition of a foreign-policy achievement. It’s time to move the needle up again. The longer Hezbollah fighters go unpaid, or the Assad regime unaided, the better off the people of the Middle East will be. The NPT & Conditions for Nuclear Disarmament Inter Press Service – Daryl Kimball4/1/2019 Ahead of the pivotal 2020 NPT Review Conference, all states-parties need to press U.S. and Russian leaders to extend New START and pursue further effective measures to prevent an unconstrained nuclear arms race. Failure to do so would represent a violation of their NPT Article VI obligations and would threaten the very underpinnings of the NPT regime. Trump issued an executive order to prepare for an EMP attack. What is it, and should you worry? Washington Post3/29/2019 In the doomsday scenarios politicians like to talk about, an adversary like North Korea could detonate a nuclear weapon above the United States, causing an EMP to knock out the electrical grid. Theoretically, any country with nuclear weapons could do this. Fortunately, there’s little cause for concern about an EMP attack in isolation, because a nuclear EMP attack would be just that: a nuclear attack.