Top News: Trump administration orders assessment on bolstering nuclear warheads as talks with Russia stall Politico ANALYSIS: From smuggled coal to art: How North Korea dodges sanctions to build up nuclear arsenal The Times Trump team weighs new sanctions on Iran’s financial sector Bloomberg United States Trump administration orders assessment on bolstering nuclear warheads as talks with Russia stall Politico9/28/20 U.S. diplomats are trying to play hardball with Russia in negotiations over whether to extend New START. DoD seeks legislative help for ICBM replacement construction costs Defense News9/26/20 The U.S. Defense Department hopes Congress will approve a change in how it funds the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile in order to avoid what the department views as unnecessary contract bureaucracy. OPINION: The 2020 presidential debates: Will nuclear policy get the attention it deserves? NTILuke Radice 9/28/20 The upcoming presidential debates will rightly focus on the issues that have dominated headlines recently and throughout the 2020 campaign: the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s economic struggles, racial injustice, and the Supreme Court vacancy. PRESS RELEASE: United States announces $5.75 million contribution to IAEA ReNuAL 2 project U.S. Department of State9/25/20 Today in Vienna at the 64th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), U.S. Ambassador to International Organizations in Vienna Jackie Wolcott announced a major U.S. financial contribution of over $5.75 million to the IAEA to help fund the final phase of renovations to the IAEA’s nuclear applications laboratories located in Seibersdorf, Austria, known as the “ReNuAL 2” project. East Asia ANALYSIS: From smuggled coal to art: How North Korea dodges sanctions to build up nuclear arsenal The TimesRichard Parry 9/29/20 North Korea has successfully miniaturized its nuclear weapons, continues to build ballistic missiles, and is using a range of ingenious means to dodge sanctions, from smuggled coal and art to dispatching workers overseas, according to the United Nations. Middle East OPINION: Toward an honest Middle East nonproliferation policy Bulletin of Atomic ScientistVictor Gilinsky, Henry Sokolski 9/25/20 With the recent outing of Riyadh’s covert nuclear collaboration with Beijing, the dominos of Middle East proliferation are set to tumble. Trump team weighs new sanctions on Iran’s financial sector Bloomberg9/28/20 The Trump administration is considering fresh sanctions to sever Iran’s economy from the outside world except in limited circumstances, by targeting more than a dozen banks and labeling the entire financial sector off-limits, three people familiar with the matter said. Multilateral Arms Control ‘Reverse course’ towards full nuclear disarmament UN News9/25/20 On the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons marked on Saturday, the UN chief has underscored the need to “reverse course and return to a common path to nuclear disarmament”.