Top News: Russia calls US’s newest stance on nuclear arms agreement ‘undiplomatic,’ considers not extending Fox News White House fills troubled Russia job Politico Long-planned and bigger than thought: strike on Iran’s nuclear program New York Times United States White House fills troubled Russia job Politico7/10/20 The White House has tapped Ryan Tully to be the top Europe and Russian official on the National Security Council, the fifth person to hold the job in three and a half years, according to two people familiar with his hiring. Twenty three new COVID-19 cases reported at NNSA Exchange Monitor7/10/20 There were 23 new active cases of COVID-19 this week at National Nuclear Security Administration sites, marking a second consecutive week of double-digit increases across the civilian nuclear security enterprise. No big raise for NNSA in house panel’s FY21 spending bill Exchange Monitor7/11/20 A House Appropriations panel this week followed through with its promise not to grant a $20-billion budget request for civilian nuclear weapons programs, approving instead $18 billion for fiscal 2021 as part of a spending bill. ANALYSIS: arms control, the ICBM force, and ballistic missile defense Real Clear DefenseMark Schneider 7/11/20 The U.S. has just started negotiations with the Russians on a new nuclear arms control treaty. East Asia OPINION: China turns down nuclear arms control talks with U.S. and Russia The HillMarty Johnson 7/10/20 China has doubled down on its stance that it won’t engage in nuclear talks with the U.S. and Russia, reiterating that it has made its position on the matter “very clear.” Middle East Long-planned and bigger than thought: strike on Iran’s nuclear program New York Times7/10/20 Some officials say that a joint American-Israeli strategy is evolving — some might argue regressing — to a series of short-of-war clandestine strikes. Iran explosions: Officials deny reports of fresh blast BBC7/10/20 Iranian officials have denied reports of an explosion west of the capital Tehran on Thursday, the latest in a series of mysterious blasts to hit the country in recent weeks. Russia and Europe Russia calls US’s newest stance on nuclear arms agreement ‘undiplomatic,’ considers not extending Fox News7/11/20 A top Russian diplomat said Friday that he is not optimistic that the U.S.-Russian nuclear arms agreement will be extended because of Washington’s demands to include China in the proposal. Russia skeptical about nuclear pact extension prospects Associated Press7/10/20 Russia’s top diplomat said Friday he’s not very optimistic about prospects for an extension of the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control agreement because of Washington’s focus on making China sign up to the pact.