With All Eyes on Iran, North Korea Nuked Up

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0:33Will they talk or not? We'll get the latest on potential U.S.-Iran diplomacy as the end of a 10-day ceasefire looms. Plus, with the world's focus elsewhere, North Korea speeds up work on its nuclear program, and scientists close in on treatments to stop the genetic driver of lung cancer. It is so hard to target that researchers named it the Death Star. This weekend, researchers presented early results from two experimental drugs that they're enthusiastic could work against it. It's Monday, April 20th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

1:16After a three-week-long rally that has brought U.S. stocks to record highs, investors are once again bracing for uncertainty following a whirlwind of developments in the Iran war. Hopes had been raised last week for an end to the conflict and that the Strait of Hormuz was reopening to shipping traffic until Iran on Saturday said that the strait remained closed. In a series of social media posts yesterday, President Donald Trump called that a total violation of the ceasefire agreement and threatened to knock out all of Iran's bridges and power plants if Tehran doesn't agree to peace talks before the truce expires on Wednesday.

1:52Journal Middle East reporter Felice Salomon told us that expectations for a diplomatic breakthrough are beginning the week at a low point. There's still a lot of uncertainty about how these talks are going to pan out. The two sides left the last round of talks very far apart on key issues, particularly Iran's future uranium enrichment. And that had actually been one of the key sticking points from the beginning. Right now, the U.S. is pushing for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping, freeze enrichment of uranium for at least 20 years, and agree to remove its stockpiles of enriched uranium.

2:23If the talks happen, we'll see if Iran is willing to engage on some of these points. So far, it has signaled that it's not open to some of these demands. Iranian state media has said that they're excessive and considers Washington's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to be a violation of the ceasefire. Separately, the U.S. yesterday seized an Iranian ship that had attempted to get past its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The ship, which was previously sanctioned by the U.S. and has frequently visited Chinese ports, was intercepted by an American destroyer after ignoring U.S. demands that it stop.

2:56Motor vessel Tosca. Motor vessel Tosca. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We're prepared to subject you to disabling fire. China's foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Wary of the potential long-term economic consequences of the war, the United Arab Emirates has asked the U.S. about offering it a financial lifeline. We exclusively report that could include a currency swap line, which would give the Emirates Central Bank cheap access to dollars in order to prop up its currency or shore up its foreign reserves. Emirati officials haven't made a formal request yet, but we report that they have argued it was President Trump's idea to attack Iran, and that should they run out of dollars, the country could be forced to use the Chinese yuan for oil sales, an implicit threat to the U.S.

3:48dollar which enjoys near-exclusive use in oil transactions. The UAE's central bank didn't respond to requests for comment, and a Fed spokesperson declined to comment. Meanwhile, with the world's focus on Iran, North Korea has accelerated work on its nuclear weapons program. Our Korea Bureau Chief Tim Martin is in Seoul. Tim, what's the news here? What have we missed? North Korea has been very busy. They've come near completion of a new facility at its main Yongbyon nuclear site. There's more activity from a five megawatt reactor, a reprocessing unit, a light water reactor. They're conducting missile tests left and right.

4:25They just did one over the weekend with cluster munitions. This is Kim Jong-un exploiting the moment. He has a nuclear bomb. He's perceived to be under no threat of a regime overthrow. The U.S. is not threatening to invade North Korea. In fact, President Trump has often spoken of his close relationship with Kim Jong-un. And Moscow and Beijing have given all types of political, economic and military protection to Pyongyang. Tim, would it be fair to say that whereas maybe Iran is still in a vulnerable pre-nuclear phase, North Korea is looking like it's basically crossed a threshold here and is now commanding respect from world powers?

5:01I think that's what world events show. Iran on the precipice of a nuclear program has made it a target by the Trump administration. We can look at Venezuela, Cuba, other countries that have nothing amounting to a nuclear program, but have also made them vulnerable to intimidation and tactics. There are certainly international agencies that still raise alarm about North Korea's nuclear advances. In fact, Rafael Grossi, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency chief, recently said, all this activity points to a very serious increase in their capabilities. But what's the ability to stop, thwart, convince North Korea not to go down this nuclear pathway?

5:40That has more or less been eliminated. The main historical mechanism to do this would have been at the United Nations. However, Russia and China have veto powers to any type of deepening or tightening of sanctions. That was our Korea Bureau Chief Tim Martin. And Japan is for the first time ever going to export its warships. Shares in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are up more than 3 % today after the company finalized the deal to supply frigates to the Royal Australian Navy. The more than$7 billion agreement comes as Japan prepares to loosen restrictions on exporting lethal weapons amid growing global demand for munitions and military equipment.

6:21And with oil prices now rallying again on concerns that the Iran war could drag out, the specter of rising inflation is back. Investors hunting for clues on the war's effect on the U.S. economy will have a lot to consider this week, starting with a retail sales update tomorrow that will reveal whether consumer spending has slowed as a result of rising prices. PMI readings for April due on Thursday will show the hit to the manufacturing and services sectors. And on Friday, it's the closely watched Consumer Sentiment Report from the University of Michigan. And amidst it all, the Trump administration is hoping to push through Kevin Warsh's nomination for Fed chair with his Senate confirmation due to begin tomorrow.

7:01But as Telus Demos explained on WSJ's Take on the Week podcast, that might not be so straightforward. If Jerome Powell doesn't leave the Fed when his term ends, which is in the middle of May, there's kind of a race to officially confirm Warsh ahead of that. But there's this ongoing sort of issue with Senator Tillis, who's put a hold on the nomination until the Department of Justice drops its investigation of Jerome Powell. So a lot of drama about how quickly will Warsh's nomination actually move. And that's all before, like, the substantive drama around Kevin Warsh, which is that he has argued that we can and should be cutting interest rates.

7:42And it's becoming harder, arguably, to make the case that we should be cutting rates in the face of the risk of an oil price shock, but also a really tough to read labor market. Coming up, a pair of new drugs targeting a genetic driver of lung cancer show strong trial results and Blue Origin misses the mark on an attempted satellite launch. Those stories after the break. Trading at Schwab is now powered by Ameritrade. Unlocking the power of Thinkorswim, the award-winning trading platforms loaded with features that let you dive deeper into the market. Visualize your trades in a new light on Thinkorswim Desktop with robust charting and analysis tools.

8:24All while you uncover new opportunities with up-to-the-minute market news and insights. Thinkorswim is available on desktop, web, and mobile to meet you where you are. It's built by the trading obsessed to help you trade brilliantly. Learn more at schwab.com slash trading.

8:43We're exclusively reporting that Eli Lilly is in advanced talks to acquire Colonia Therapeutics for more than$2 billion, with a deal coming as soon as today if talks don't fall apart. Boston-based Colonia is developing a next-generation treatment for the blood cancer multiple myeloma, and buying the privately held company could help Eli Lilly to boost its position in the lucrative blood cancer segment of a global cancer drug market worth almost a quarter trillion dollars. Meanwhile, Journal News associate Xavier Martinez says that doctors may be getting closer to having a potent weapon against a genetic driver of lung cancer that's long lacked any targeted treatment options.

9:22Scientists have spent decades trying to crack a genetic mutation called KRAS. It drives some of the deadliest cancers, including lung cancer, but it is so hard to target that researchers named it the Death Star. This weekend at a major cancer conference in San Diego, researchers presented early results from two experimental drugs that they're enthusiastic could work against it. In one study, a drug called Zoldan Rasib shrank lung cancer tumors in more than half of patients with a variant of the mutation that has never had a targeted treatment. In the other study, a drug called Ellis Rasib shrank lung cancer tumors in nearly 60 % of patients, roughly double the rate seen with existing approved drugs.

10:04It's still early. These are small trials and preliminary data. But doctors are saying that it could be a breakthrough. For patients who have had very few options, that could be a very big deal. And finally, it's time to put on my ear protectors. Because Blue Origin yesterday celebrated the company's first commercial launch for its massive New Glenn rocket. The reusable rocket even nailed its landing. Welcome back once again. Never tell me the odds. It's good to say that. but a satellite it was carrying wasn't deployed correctly, with Blue Origin saying in a social media post that the satellite owned by AST Space Mobile was deployed into an incorrect orbit.

10:43AST Space Mobile is building a cellular broadband network in space, but said the satellite's altitude was too low to sustain operations and that it will be taken out of orbit. The stumble comes as Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin works to ramp up New Glenn flights to address a backlog and better challenge Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has a dominant position in the launch market. And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Hattie Moyer. Our supervising producer is Sandra Killhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show.

11:18And until then, thanks for listening.

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