TOP NEWS Donald Trump And Kim Jong Un Kick Off Hanoi Nuclear Summit Financial Time India Pakistan: Kashmir Fighting Sees Indian Aircraft Downed BBC News US Nuclear General Worries Over Russia’s Weapons Outside New START DefenseNews East Asia Donald Trump And Kim Jong Un Kick Off Hanoi Nuclear Summit Financial Times2/27/2019 Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have begun their two-day summit in Hanoi, as the US president tries to revive efforts to persuade the North Korean leader to follow through on his pledge to abandon his nuclear weapons. Trump and Kim Open Second Nuclear Summit in Hanoi France 242/27/2019 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump met in Hanoi on Wednesday for their second summit, with the US president saying he will not back down on US demands for North Korea’s denuclearisation. Seeking North Korea Deal, Trump Seems Willing to Ease U.S. Demands New York Times2/26/2019 When he vowed to “solve” the North Korea problem just before his inauguration two years ago, President Trump made clear he meant eliminating its nuclear arsenal. Russia Edges into Nuclear Talks Ahead of Kim-Trump Summit Washington Post2/27/2019 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov inserted himself into the high-stakes nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea ahead of the second meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam’s capital on Wednesday. As Trump And Kim Meet, One Of Beijing’s Chief Concerns Is The US-South Korea Alliance CNBC2/27/2019 China supports the reunification of North and South Korea, but Beijing is deeply worried about Seoul’s security alliance with the U.S., according to one analyst. South Asia India Pakistan: Kashmir Fighting Sees Indian Aircraft Downed BBC News2/27/2019 The aerial attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Indian and Pakistani territory are the first since a war in 1971. The BBC’s Soutik Biswas, in Delhi, says the challenge for India and Pakistan now is to contain the latest escalation before things get completely out of control. Imran Khan To Consult Nuclear Chiefs After India’s First Air Strike on Pakistan In Decades ABC News2/27/2019 Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan will stage an emergency parliamentary session and meet with the body in control of Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal in response to India’s first air strikes on Pakistan since 1971. Middle East Iran President Rejects Resignation of Moderate Ally Zarif Reuters2/27/2019 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected the resignation of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday, standing by a moderate ally long targeted by hardliners in factional struggles over a 2015 nuclear deal with the West. Russia/FSU/Europe US Nuclear General Worries Over Russia’s Weapons Outside New START DefenseNews2/26/2019 In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Russia is developing a nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered underwater unmanned vehicle, an intercontinental-range cruise missile, and a hypersonic nuclear weapon, which Moscow wants to keep out of existing arms agreements. U.S. Nuclear Policy Navy’s New Nuke Sub on Track; Early Problems Fixed Breaking Defense2/26/2019 The head of the Navy’s Columbia-class nuclear submarine program says that the program, despite earlier concerns over cost, schedule, and industrial base issues, is set to meet its goal of a first deployment in 2031, putting the service’s most expensive and consequential program on track. Department of Energy Says First Low-Yield, Sub-Launched Nuke Warhead is Ready for Battle Defense Daily2/26/2019 The Department of Energy certified Friday that a new low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead is battle ready, the agency said Monday. Opinion and Analysis Can Trump Avoid Caving to Kim in Vietnam? New York Times – Susan Rice2/26/2019 The United States can make progress toward reducing the North Korean nuclear threat if Mr. Trump is disciplined in his diplomacy. Is War Coming to South Asia? Al Jazeera – Happymon Jacob2/27/2019 Military standoffs or escalations between India and Pakistan are not new, nor is the use of military means to settle scores. However, what sets this round of escalation apart is that this is the first time since the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war that the two countries attack targets deep within each other’s territories. After India’s Strike on Pakistan, Both Sides Leave Room for De-escalation New York Times – Maria Abi-Habib2/26/2019 For the first time in five decades, Indian warplanes crossed into Pakistan and conducted airstrikes on Tuesday. But in the jarring escalation of hostilities, the leadership of each nuclear-armed country also appeared to leave itself a way out of pushing the conflict into war. Trump-Kim Summit in Vietnam: What Is On The Table? The Guardian – Julian Borger2/27/2019 A move to limit the North Korean arsenal and begin to re-integrate the country back into the international community, would be a significant step away from the brink of nuclear war. Special Interest South Africa Commits to UN Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons DefenceWeb2/26/2019 South Africa this week became the 22nd state in the world to submit its ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to the United Nations.