Top News: Biden sends nuclear envoy to Seoul amid North Korea threats Bloomberg North Korea could be getting ready to test weapons, South Korea report indicates Newsweek Exclusive: Biden’s Iran envoy calls nuclear deal’s fate ‘one big question mark’ Politico United States Explained: Nuclear fusion and the recent breakthrough The Indian Express8/20/2021 On Tuesday, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California announced that an experiment carried out in its National Ignition Facility has made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion research. In the experiment, lasers were used to heat a small target or fuel pellets. These pellets containing deuterium and tritium fused and produced more energy. The team noted that they were able to achieve a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules. East Asia IAEA, Japan agree to begin implementing project to monitor and review water release at Fukushima Daiichi IAEA8/19/2021 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Japan today agreed to begin implementing the on-site safety review of the water release at Fukushima Daiichi in September. IAEA officials will travel to Japan for on-site meetings to discuss the plans and activities for the water discharge, as agreed today during a meeting of IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama. S. Korea to talk N. Korea with US, Russian envoys The Korea Herald8/20/2021 South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Noh Kyu-duk, will meet separately with his US and Russian counterparts to discuss North Korea’s denuclearization next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. Biden sends nuclear envoy to Seoul amid North Korea threats Bloomberg8/20/2021 U.S. President Joe Biden’s point man for North Korea was set to arrive in Seoul this weekend, days after Pyongyang threated a “security crisis” over U.S.-led military drills. North Korea could be getting ready to test weapons, South Korea report indicates Newsweek8/19/2021 North Korea sent warnings to ships passing near its eastern coast earlier this week, indicating the nation could be preparing to test out weapons, a press report from South Korea indicated. ANALYSIS: How the Afghanistan withdrawal looks from South Korea, America’s other ‘Forever War’ Voice of AmericaWilliam Gallo 8/20/2021 U.S. President Joe Biden this week was asked what the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan means for Washington’s other global military commitments. In response, Biden stressed the “fundamental difference” between Afghanistan and places like South Korea, where the U.S. also has a major troop presence. OPINION: Beijing’s bomb buildup continues as third new ICBM field uncovered The Heritage Foundation8/19/2021 Indeed, after recent stories on two new Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile silo sites this summer, last week, a third—yes, a third—new, undeclared Chinese ICBM field was revealed to the public courtesy of U.S. Air Force researchers. Considering China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, these new nuclear capabilities will give Beijing greater freedom of action internationally to try to influence and control not only Washington, but also its Asian allies and partners. Middle East Exclusive: Biden’s Iran envoy calls nuclear deal’s fate ‘one big question mark’ Politico8/19/2021 Robert Malley, the man President Joe Biden has tasked with putting the United States back into the Iran nuclear deal, isn’t supremely confident he’ll succeed in his mission. France, Germany, UK very worried about Iran’s uranium enrichment Reuters8/19/2021 France, Germany and Britain voiced grave concern on Thursday about a report that Iran had accelerated its enrichment of uranium to near weapons grade, saying this was a serious violation of its commitments.