Midday Roundup: North Korea's nuke program officially back in business

New nukes? North Korea has reopened its main nuclear facility and is improving its nuclear weapon stockpile in “quality and quantity,” according to the state news agency. Experts say the facility could make as much as one bomb’s worth of nuclear material per year. North Korea temporarily shuttered the reactor at Yongbyon in 2007, but the country’s repressive government announced in 2013 it would restart production of plutonium as soon as possible. The announcement serves as official confirmation of the work going on at Yongbyon, but is not a surprise to U.S. officials. Satellite images of the plant showed activity earlier this year that indicated it was back in business. Analysts believe North Korea already has nuclear bombs but none small enough to attach to a rocket. And none of their rockets are capable of reaching the United States, at least not yet.

Border fence. Hungarian officials detained 60 refugees today as part of a crackdown designed to discourage Middle Eastern refugees from swamping the country’s border with Serbia. Hungary has touted its 109-mile fence as a barrier to the flood of migrants, but by early Tuesday, there were several large holes in the razor-wire wall. Officials said anyone caught damaging the fence would be thrown in jail. Hungary’s aggressive stance against the migrants has escalated tensions in Europe even more. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Austrian counterpart have called on the European Union to hold a special summit on the refugee crisis. Several countries, including Germany, have instituted border checks to try to catch refugees traveling across Europe, effectively ending the region’s decades-old open-border policy.

Wicked weather. Eight people are dead and five others are missing after a flash flood hit the town of Hildale, Utah, early today. The victims were among a group of 16 women and children traveling in two vehicles along a gravel road north of the town on the Arizona border. Three people have been rescued. Hildale, a community of about 7,700 people, is best known as the home base for the polygamous sect run by Warren Jeffs, who is serving jail time for child abuse. In northern California, firefighters continue to battle two wildfires that have now consumed more than 700 homes. The Valley and Butte wildfires have so far driven 23,000 people from their communities. Two dozen wildfires are burning across Washington, Oregon, and California.

Out of a job. An embarrassing “open mic” moment may have cost Australia’s conservative prime minister his job. Prime Minister Tony Abbott was caught on tape laughing at a joke about rising ocean waters due to climate change, whispered by one of his ministers last week. Leaders of several of Australia’s island territories took offense to Abbott’s perceived insensitivity. That faux pas likely was the last straw for the gaffe-prone Abbott’s political opponents. Australia’s Liberal Party ousted him from his leadership position over the weekend. He led the party’s conservative coalition, but members replaced him with a more moderate leader, Malcolm Turnbull. Abbott became prime minister in 2013 and immediately led a successful repeal of Australia’s carbon tax. His removal could spell the end of the government’s conservative policy on climate change.

Domestic dispute. Police in Cleveland, Miss., say a love triangle may be the motive in a deadly shooting at Delta State University. Cleveland Police Chief Charles Bingham said Delta University professor Shannon Lamb allegedly shot and killed assistant history professor Ethan Schmidt at the school as he sat at his desk. Police also suspect that Lamb earlier in the day shot and killed his live-in girlfriend, Amy Prentiss, hours away in Gautier, Miss., on the Gulf Coast. Police launched an all-day manhunt for Lamb, eventually cornering him on a highway. After pulling off on the side of the road, Lamb ran into a wooded area and shot himself. Investigators are still trying to untangle the motive for the shooting.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard contributed to this report.