Top News Kim Jong-un is back. What happens when he’s really gone? New York Times China’s long-range Xian H-20 stealth bomber could make its debut this year South China Morning Post U.S. ‘hopeful’ U.N. will extend Iran arms embargo, Russia ‘negative’ Reuters United States OPINION: Time to restart nuclear arms negotiations with Russia The HillJohn Fairlamb 5/3/20 The Associated Press reported on April 17 that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, discussed nuclear arms control issues. East Asia Kim Jong-un is back. What happens when he’s really gone? New York Times5/2/20 Weeks of speculation about Mr. Kim’s health brought home an alarming fact: No one knows who will control North Korea, or its nuclear weapons, should he die. China’s long-range Xian H-20 stealth bomber could make its debut this year South China Morning Post5/4/20 Beijing ‘carefully considering’ unveiling the plane at the Zhuhai Airshow in November at a time of heightened regional tension. Middle East Syria says Russian missile defence system ‘ineffective’ Middle East Monitor5/1/20 The Syrian military has criticised the Russian S-300 missile defence system, saying that it is largely ineffective against Israeli air strikes, Avia.pro reported yesterday. U.S. ‘hopeful’ U.N. will extend Iran arms embargo, Russia ‘negative’ Reuters4/30/20 The United States is “hopeful” the U.N. Security Council will extend an arms embargo on Iran before it expires in October, a top U.S. State Department envoy said on Thursday, despite a key Russian official signaling that Moscow opposed such a move. Iran says U.S. push to extend Tehran’s arms embargo is ‘illegitimate’ Haaretz5/4/20 Iran dismissed as “illegitimate” efforts by the United States to extend the UN Security Council arms embargo on Tehran, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday. Russia and Europe PODCAST : Russia’s nudol anti-satellite missile test Arms Control Wonk5/1/20 In mid-April, Russia tested a direct ascent anti-satellite missile (DA ASAT), the Nudol/PL19, against a point in space. Multilateral Arms Control OPINION: Urgent action is needed to put the lid on a new and costly global arms race. AFSA5/1/20 The Cold War is over, but the weapons remain.