Top News: Trump to nominate new NBC leader as white house eyes nuke tests Breaking Defense OPINION: The U.S. can’t “win” an arms race With Russia and China New Republic North Koreans accused of laundering $2.5 billion for nuclear program New York Times United States Trump to nominate new NBC leader as white house eyes nuke tests Breaking Defense5/27/20 Today’s announcement of the administration’s “intent” to nominate Polakowski, a retired Army two-star general who worked on WMD issues throughout his career, comes the day after a senior Pentagon official acknowledged that the US could resume nuclear testing “relatively rapidly,” should the decision be made. OPINION: The U.S. can’t “win” an arms race With Russia and China New Republic – Ankit Panda 5/27/20 Trump’s childish nuclear gambling and obsessive jingoism have combined in a strategy that could end arms control as we know it. OPINION: Don’t resume nuclear testing Brookings – Steven Pifer 5/28/20 Senior U.S. officials reportedly have discussed conducting a nuclear weapons test for the first time in 28 years. East Asia China’s defense budget shows Xi’s priorities as economy tightens CNN5/27/20 When China announced a 6.6% increase in its military budget last week while cutting substantially in other areas, analysts said it made one thing clear: Beijing senses an increasing security threat and is giving the People’s Liberation Army the military muscle to deal with it. North Koreans accused of laundering $2.5 billion for nuclear program New York Times5/28/20 The Justice Department unsealed an indictment accusing nearly three dozen people of using shell companies to launder billions through the global financial system. North Korea still operating, improving major nuclear fuel plant, experts say NBC News5/29/20 A key source of material for North Korea’s nuclear program remains operational and continues to be updated, according to a coming report based on recent satellite photos that underscores the persistence of a top threat to U.S. national security. Middle East U.S. to penalize work at Iranian facilities in latest blow to nuclear accord New York Times5/28/20 International workers will no longer be able to keep a watchful eye on the nuclear programs, risking a layer of security that had sought to ensure Iran could not secretly violate a 2015 deal with world powers. Iran says nuclear work will not be hurt by end of U.S. sanctions waivers Reuters5/28/20 A U.S. decision to terminate sanctions waivers that have allowed foreign companies to do some work at Iranian nuclear sites will not affect Iran’s nuclear programme, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) said on Thursday. Russia and Europe Russian senator criticises U.S. for ending sanctions waivers on Iran nuclear sites Reuters5/28/20 The United States’ decision to end sanctions waivers that had allowed some work to proceed at Iranian nuclear sites will only provoke Tehran into developing nuclear weapons, Interfax cited Russian Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov as saying on Thursday. Multilateral Arms Control Trump’s impending withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty is another US foreign policy own goal Responsible Statecraft – Alex Bell, Anthony Wier 5/28/20 In a now painfully familiar exercise, the Trump administration said this past week that it would leave yet another international agreement.