News Roundup: North Korea Resumes Operations at Main Nuclear Reactor Site

BY JACK CROWE

August 30, 2021

Good morning and welcome to the News Editor's Roundup, a weekly newsletter that will ensure you're up to date on the developments in politics, business, and culture that will shape the week's news cycle — as well as those that might escape mainstream attention.

North Korea Resumes Operations at Main Nuclear Reactor Site

New satellite photos indicate that North Korea resumed operation of its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in July, raising again the specter of an unstable autocratic regime armed with nuclear weapons, a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency suggests.

While the country's main plutonium-producing reactor was put out of commission in December 2018, satellite images captured this year indicate the apparatus is once again in use. One such warning sign includes the discharge of cooling water, according to the report, which was first noted by the Wall Street Journal.

The development presents another obstacle to the Biden administration as it seeks to achieve and maintain a denuclearized North Korea. While the nation produces highly-enriched uranium at other locations as well, Yongbyon has been historically significant and symbolic as a site within international nuclear negotiations.

U.S. Carries Out Drone Strike in Kabul against Potential Suicide Car Bomb

The U.S. carried out a drone strike against a potential ISIS-K car bomb in Kabul that posed a threat to Hamid Karzai International Airport, U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Bill Urban said on Sunday.

The strike killed "multiple suicide bombers" belonging to ISIS-K, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. ISIS-K is the same group that attacked the airport in a pair of suicide bombings on Thursday, killing 13 U.S. service members and close to 200 Afghans.

Ten civilians were killed in the strike, family members told the Washington Post.

Sasse: Biden Reliance on 'Happy Talk' Led to Afghanistan Withdrawal Deaths

Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) criticized the Biden administration for relying on "happy talk" to implement its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"There is clearly no plan. There has been no plan. Their plan has basically been happy talk," Sasse said in an interview on ABC's This Week on Sunday. "People have died and people are going to die because President Biden decided to rely on happy talk instead of reality."

Sasse added later in the interview, "Joe Biden put our forces at risk by having no plan for how to evacuate."

Blinken Says U.S. Diplomatic Presence in Kabul 'Not Likely' after Withdrawal

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will likely not have a diplomatic presence on the ground in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of American forces on Tuesday.

"That's not likely to happen," Blinken told NBC's Chuck Todd on Meet the Press on Sunday. "What is going to happen is that our commitment to continue to help people leave Afghanistan who want to leave and who are not out by September 1st, that endures."

Blinken added, "And we have ways, we have mechanisms to help facilitate the ongoing departure of people from Afghanistan if they choose to leave."

Biden Receives Bodies of Service Members Killed in Kabul Attack

President Biden traveled to Dover Air Force Base on Sunday for the dignified transfer of the remains of the 13 U.S. service members killed in an attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

The remains of the service members were flown to the U.S. from Germany on Sunday morning, with a number of family members present for the transfer. The president and first lady Jill Biden met with family members just prior to the transfer.

The arrival of fallen servicemen in the U.S. is referred to as a "dignified transfer" instead of a ceremony so that family members do not feel obligated to attend, although they may do so if they wish.

Rep. Banks Questions January 6 Commission's Decision to 'Spy' on House Republicans

In response to reports that the January 6 select committee plans to subpoena the private phone records of House Republicans, Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.) has written a letter demanding that the panel provide notice to the lawmakers before issuing any subpoenas.

In a letter sent to committee chairman Bennie Thompson on Friday, Banks argued that "rifling through the call logs of your colleagues would depart from more than 230 years of Congressional oversight."

"This type of authoritarian undertaking has no place in the House of Representatives and the information you seek has no conceivable legislative purpose," he said. "It is a desperate partisan act that would only further reveal the political nature of the Select Committee."

RFK Assassin Sirhan Sirhan Recommended for Parole

A California parole-board panel voted on Friday to grant parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

The 77-year-old won parole on his 16th attempt after spending 53 years in prison. State prosecutors did not object to his release, and two of Kennedy's sons, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Douglas Kennedy, expressed support for Sirhan.

"I'm overwhelmed just by being able to view Mr. Sirhan face to face. I think I've lived my life both in fear of him and his name in one way or another. And I am grateful today to see him as a human being worthy of compassion and love," said Douglas Kennedy.

"I really do believe any prisoner who is found to be not a threat to themselves or the world should be released," he said, according to the Associated Press. "I believe that applies to everyone, every human being, including Mr. Sirhan. . . . I was very deeply moved by Mr. Sirhan's expression of remorse, and at times it brought tears to my eyes and affected me very deeply.

Newsom Says He'll 'Regret Every Damn' Policy Decision He Made Recently if Recalled

California Governor Gavin Newsom says he will "regret every damn one of" his recent policy decisions if he is recalled from office next month.

Newsom, who is facing a recall election on September 14, said in an interview with the Atlantic published on Friday that he feels "a weight of a responsibility to defeat" the recall effort, as well as "the responsibility that if we fall short, I'm going to own that."

He listed a number of his recent initiatives, such as using billions of dollars of federal relief money in the state budget and signing a bill to expand health care to undocumented workers.

"If I do fall short, I'll regret every damn one of those decisions. And I don't want to have any regrets for putting everything out there and doing . . . what I think is right and what I think is in the best interest of California."

New York Governor Weighing Special Legislative Session to Delay Evictions: Report

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is reportedly eyeing a potential special session of the state legislature to address the imminent end of a moratorium on evictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hochul is having discussions with the leaders of the state Senate and the state Assembly about calling legislators back to Albany for a special session after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the CDC's nationwide moratorium, according to The Hill. The Supreme Court struck down a New York State eviction moratorium earlier this month, ruling that the state's policy that allowed a resident to certify a hardship on his or her own behalf violated a landlord's right to a hearing.

Judge Blocks Mother's Shared Custody over COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal

A mother in Illinois says a judge has stripped her parental rights because she is not vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a new report.

Earlier this month, Cook County judge James Shapiro ruled that Rebecca Firlit can't see her eleven-year-old son until she receives a COVID-19 vaccine, FOX 32 Chicago reported. Firlit had previously shared custody and parenting time with her ex-husband.

The couple, who have been divorced for seven years, appeared in court via Zoom for a child-support hearing on August 10, when Shapiro reportedly asked the mother if she had been vaccinated.

Firlit said she had not received the shot because she has had adverse reactions from other vaccines in the past.