Top News: Presidential message on the 75th anniversary of the Trinity nuclear test White House Explosion at Natanz: Why sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program could backfire Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Pompeo downplays possibility of summit with North Korea Associated Press United States Presidential message on the 75th anniversary of the Trinity nuclear test White House7/16/20 Seventy-five years ago today, on a rainy morning in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico, the United States ushered in the nuclear age with the detonation of the world’s first nuclear explosive device—an event code-named “Trinity.” Pompeo downplays possibility of summit with North Korea Associated Press7/16/20 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplayed the possibility of another summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before the U.S. presidential election, saying Trump would only want to engage if there were real prospects of progress. OPINION: The dire lessons of the first nuclear bomb test AxiosBryan Walsh 7/15/20 The Trinity nuclear test 75 years ago represented our first reckoning with a technology that could potentially destroy us. OPINION: It’s been 75 years, and America still won’t admit a nuclear disaster New York TimesJoshua Wheeler 7/15/20 When America detonated the world’s first atomic bomb at 0529 hours on July 16, 1945, it was an attack on American soil. East Asia China urges U.S. to reduce nuclear risks, boost global security Xinhua7/17/20 The United States must take concrete steps to promote global strategic security, particularly in the field of nuclear weapons, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a press conference here Thursday. China threatens to starve US of key defence materials The Times7/16/20 China could choke off the supply of critical rare-earth elements to the American defence contractor Lockheed Martin under new sanctions imposed on the company, state media have reported. North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site: Minor caretaking activities continue 38 North7/16/20 Commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site from May to July indicates the site is being well maintained. RESEARCH: North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs Congressional Research Service7/14/20 North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs despite high-level diplomatic efforts and UN Security Council sanctions. ANALYSIS: Thinking the other unthinkable: Disarmament in North Korea and beyond CarnegieToby Dalton, George Perkovich 7/16/20 Neither the governments attempting to negotiate with North Korea, nor the drafters of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, define what verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons and associated infrastructure would entail, whether in one country or in all. Middle East Explosion at Natanz: Why sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program could backfire Bulletin of Atomic ScientistsMarsa Rouhi 7/15/20 An explosion and fire at a workshop at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility on July 2, which destroyed the better part of an entire building, was followed by a flurry of speculation about the cause. Russia/Europe OPINION: Verification after the New START treaty: Back to the future Real Clear DefenseBryan Smith 7/27/20 The New START Treaty verification regime is far less effective than that agreed to in the original START Treaty.