Top News In North Korea, Missile Bases Suggest a Great Deception New York Times UN atomic watchdog to issue report on Iran’s nuclear program Associated Press Options limited, North Korea lit by flashlights, creaky grid Associated Press Exclusive: House Democrat to introduce new bill punishing Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi Vox East Asia In North Korea, Missile Bases Suggest a Great Deception New York Times11/12/18 North Korea is moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases that have been identified in new commercial satellite images, a network long known to American intelligence agencies but left undiscussed as President Trump claims to have neutralized the North’s nuclear threat. The satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception: It has offered to dismantle a major launching site — a step it began, then halted — while continuing to make improvements at more than a dozen others that would bolster launches of conventional and nuclear warheads. US and North Korea suffer communication breakdown BBC11/12/18 Remember when Donald Trump said he and Kim Jong-un fell in love? Well now it seems they just don’t talk anymore. Instead, the US and North Korea appear to be staring one another down, waiting for the other to blink or make a move. And neither appears willing to give way. Options limited, North Korea lit by flashlights, creaky grid Associated Press11/12/18 More than 20 years after his father almost bargained them away for a pair of nuclear reactors, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has his nuclear weapons — and a nation still plagued by chronic blackouts. Even on the clearest days, plumes of smoke from two towering chimneys linger over the center of Pyongyang. The Soviet-era Pyongyang Combined Heat and Power Plant smokestacks are one of the North Korean capital’s most recognizable landmarks. Spat over NPT reference in Japan-sponsored U.N. resolution expands nuclear disarmament rift with U.S. The Japan Times11/10/18 A clear policy difference emerged between Japan and the United States when they had bilateral consultations before a U.N. panel adopted a Japanese resolution this month calling for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, according to diplomatic sources. The United States had opposed including some sentences referring to the importance of Article 6 of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and agreements reached at the review conferences on the NPT in 1995, 2000 and 2010 in the Japan-sponsored U.N. resolution, the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity recently told Kyodo News. Middle East EU Intensifies Efforts to Preserve Iran Nuclear Accord Bloomberg11/9/18 Europe has intensified its efforts to preserve the Iranian nuclear accord and maintain economic relations with the Islamic Republic in the face of growing pressure after the Trump administration renewed its sanctions regime. “The efforts to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA, and economic and trade relations with Iran have been intensified in recent weeks, especially those that are related to the setting up of the special purpose vehicle,” Maja Kocijancic, European Union spokeswoman for foreign affairs, said on Friday, referring to the formal title of the Iran accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. UN atomic watchdog to issue report on Iran’s nuclear program Associated Press11/12/18 The U.N. atomic watchdog is preparing to release its latest report on whether Iran continues to comply with the 2015 deal aimed at keeping Tehran from building nuclear weapons in exchange for incentives. The issue has grown more complicated since the U.S. withdrew unilaterally in May from the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and then re-imposed sanctions. Iran’s economy has been struggling ever since and its currency has plummeted in value. Russia/FSU/Europe Putin: Russia wants dialogue with U.S. on missile treaty – agencies Reuters11/11/18 Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday Moscow wanted to restore a full-scale dialogue with the United States about the landmark Cold War-era missile treaty, Russian news agencies reported. President Donald Trump said last month Washington would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty because Russia was violating the pact, bringing a warning of retaliatory measures from Moscow. U.S. Nuclear Policy Exclusive: House Democrat to introduce new bill punishing Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi Vox11/9/18 A House Democrat will soon introduce legislation to punish Saudi Arabia over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — by trying to halt an impending nuclear deal with the country. Obtained exclusively by Vox, the bill — nicknamed the “No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act of 2018” — if passed would be the strongest rebuke to Saudi Arabia yet since the uproar over Khashoggi’s fate. Opinion and Analysis Undeclared North Korea: The Sakkanmol Missile Operating Base CSIS – Beyond Parallel11/12/18 Sakkanmol is an undeclared operational missile base for short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs). It is one of 13 out of an estimated 20 undeclared North Korean missile operating bases identified by Beyond Parallel research.