• Sri Lanka attacksNearly 300 killed, 500 injured in Easter Sunday attacks on churches, hotels in Sri Lanka

    In the worst wave of terrorist violence in Sri Lanka in ten years, a series of blasts on Sunday have hit churches and hotels in and near the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. The nearly simultaneous blasts targeted churches during Easter services and hotels frequented by foreign guests. Sri Lankan officials said 290 people, including at least 27 foreigners, had been killed in the blasts in Colombo and elsewhere. More than 500 more have been injured.

  • Sri Lanka attacksSri Lanka attacks among the deadliest terrorist attacks since 9/11

    The Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka – nearly 300 killed and more than 500 injured — places the bombings on a par with other high-casualty terrorist atrocities since September 11, the single deadliest terrorist attack in history, in which 2,977 people were killed.

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  • VisasAfrican asylum-seekers may bear brunt of proposed travel curbs

    As the White House mulls new travel restrictions on countries with high visa overstay rates, activists say African asylum-seekers may feel the consequences.

  • Lone-wolf terroristsThe first lone-wolf terrorist

    Muharem Kurbegovic is considered the first “lone-wolf” terrorist. He was born in Sarajevo in 1943 and immigrated to the United States in 1967 to pursue a career in engineering. In 1973 he launched a series of bombing in and around Los Angeles. What especially alarmed the authorities was his interest in building chemical weapons, including nerve-gas munitions, to use in his planned attacks:

  • Lone-wolf terroristsAnalyzing lone-actor terrorism in context

    By Noémie Bouhana

    Assessing and managing the risk of lone-actor terrorism is a challenge, as events around the world continue to show. Noémie Bouhana of the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College London suggests a shift in focus from “who and why” to “who and where.” This approach is captured in the S5 framework, which builds on the findings of PRIME, an international project led by Bouhana and funded by the European Commission to understand and counter lone-actor terrorism.

  • DronesInsect-inspired arm technology improve drone design

    A drone delivery is great – on a perfect, sunny day. But what about when it’s windy? Most drones are not able to withstand wind because of their fixed-arm design. Researchers have come up with a patented design for drones that works in windy conditions, is more energy-efficient and can handle a larger payload.

  • Climate threatsHurricane Maria's extreme rainfall due mostly to human-caused climate change

    Hurricane Maria dropped more rain on Puerto Rico than any storm to hit the island since 1956, a feat due mostly to the effects of human-caused climate warming, new research finds.

  • Our picksBorder vigilantes; the next Russian hack; CIA warning over Huawei, and more

    ·  F.B.I. arrests leader of right-wing militia that detained migrants in New Mexico

    ·  CIA warning over Huawei

    ·  A mystery agent is doxing Iran’s hackers and dumping their code

    ·  Through email leaks and propaganda, Russians sought to elect Trump, Mueller finds

    ·  Mueller report highlights scope of election security challenge

    ·  The next Russian hack

    ·  Anti-vaxxers have a new conspiracy theory and it’s one you should actually spread around

    ·  The infectious disease physician well is running dry

    ·  The conservative case for freeing “terrorist Judith Clark”

    ·  Russia has won the information war in Turkey

    ·  These are the most commonly hacked passwords - is one of them yours?

    ·  Why a Nazi nuclear bomb never happened (and the world was saved)

  • ISISUN calls for repatriation of IS wives, children in Syria

    The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is calling on countries to repatriate thousands of wives and children of Islamic State militants in Syria, who are living in dire conditions in the al-Hol camp in al-Hasakeh governorate in northeast Syria.

  • The Russia connectionDeterring Russian intimidation and aggression: Unconventional approaches

    Amid concerns that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are vulnerable to Russian intimidation and hybrid warfare, experts conclude that unconventional defense plans could help deter and counteract Russian aggression.

  • School safety“Hardened” schools are not safe from gun violence

    Hardening of schools seems to be a questionable endeavor, given the dearth of evidence regarding effectiveness, says an expert. A comprehensive review of the literature from 2000 to 2018 regarding school firearm violence prevention, found no programs or practices with evidence that they reduced such gun violence.

  • School safetyHow Columbine became a blueprint for school shooters

    By Jillian Peterson

    When twelve students and one teacher were killed in Littleton, Colorado twenty years ago, it not only became what at the time was the worst high school shooting in U.S. history. It also marked when American society was first handed a script for a new form of violence in schools. Since the 1999 tragedy at Columbine High School, we identified six mass shootings and forty active shooter incidents at elementary, middle or high schools in the United States. In twenty – or nearly half – of those forty-six school shootings, the perpetrator purposely used Columbine as a model.

  • Mass violenceExposure to mass violence on the media leads to cycle of distress

    The more people watch, listen or scroll through hours of news coverage of events such as terrorist attacks, the more likely they are to develop stress symptoms that in turn increase their media consumption during the next mass violence event, according to a nationwide study.

  • First responder technologyS&T seeking partners for first responder technology R&D

    DHS S&T said it was inviting industry, academia, laboratories, and the innovation community to submit white papers related to twelve first responder technology funding opportunities. S&T said that each of the twelve topic areas “represent technology needs identified by responders themselves, and we are seeking the best partners to turn these needs into solutions.”

  • Considered opinion: Climate & national securityClimate change: Our greatest national security threat?

    By Mark Nevitt

    The climate century is here: the earth is warming, humans are to blame, and we must take immediate action now to prepare for climate change’s massively disruptive consequences. Mark Nevitt writes in Just Security that No longer can climate change be categorized solely as an environmental issue—it is a grave threat to national security. Indeed, it may be the threat. While there are many national security challenges facing the nation and the world, climate change is an aptly described “super wicked” problem that exacerbates and accelerates already existing threats.

  • Climate threatsEnvironmental “secondary perils” an increasing threat: Swiss Re

    The catastrophe loss experience of the last two years is a wake-up call for the insurance industry, highlighting a trend of growing devastation wreaked by so-called ‘secondary perils’ – which are independent small to mid-sized events, or secondary effects of a primary disaster.

  • Planetary securityDefending the Earth from asteroids

    A mere 17-20 meters across, the Chelyabinsk meteor caused extensive ground damage and numerous injuries when it exploded on impact with Earth’s atmosphere in February 2013. To prevent another such impact, researchers use a simple yet ingenious way to spot these tiny near-Earth objects (NEOs) as they hurtle toward the planet.

  • Our picksA risk analysis of Huawei 5G; immigration enforcement dominates DHS; Iranian cyber-espionage tools, and more

    ·  A risk analysis of Huawei 5G

    ·  America retains long-term national advantages over China

    ·  Under Trump, immigration enforcement dominates Homeland Security mission

    ·  Microsoft unveils two secret data centers built for classified government data

    ·  Polluted water from Camp Fire is poisoning Paradise, Calif.

    ·  Mueller Report reveals shocking new details about Trump, Russia, obstruction

    ·  Mueller: Trump told his aides to interfere in the investigation, they just didn’t listen

    ·  Mueller on obstruction: Evidence prevents “conclusively determining no criminal conduct occurred”

    ·  Facebook bans British far-right groups and their leaders

    ·  Source code of Iranian cyber-espionage tools leaked on Telegram

    ·  Why a hacking operation by a proto-state in Ukraine could spell trouble for the U.S.

  • CubaU.S. allows lawsuits against foreign companies using property seized by Cuba

    The U.S. will allow U.S. citizens to sue foreign companies and individuals who use property confiscated from them decades ago by the government of then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The decision likely will hinder Cuba’s efforts to encourage foreign investment to the island.

  • CybersecurityIdentifying new way to improve cybersecurity

    With cybersecurity one of the nation’s top security concerns and billions of people affected by breaches last year, government and businesses are spending more time and money defending against it. Researchers have identified a new way to improve network security.

  • CybersecurityThere’s a massive cybersecurity job gap – we should fill it by employing hackers

    By John McAlaney and Helen Thackray

    Cybersecurity incidents are gaining an increasingly high profile. These attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, using psychological manipulation as well as technology. To face these challenges, society needs cybersecurity professionals who can protect systems and mitigate damage. There is already an active population with a strong passion for cybersecurity – hackers.

  • Extremism & social mediaSocial media networks aid, abet white supremacist terrorism: Study

    A new study reveals how fringe social media sites such as Gab, 4 Chan and 8chan act like virtual “round-the-clock white supremacist rallies” where hateful notions of Jews and other minorities are openly espoused and closely associated with violence as a solution.