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THE AMERICASU.S. Announces Measures to Help Over 11,000 Cuban Small Businesses
The administration unveiled regulatory changes to increase support for the Cuban people and independent private sector entrepreneurs. The changes will enable more U.S. financial support for small private businesses in Cuba, enhance internet-based services on the island and broaden access to financial services.
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NUCLEAR WARCould a U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Spark Middle East Arms Race?
One part of a predicted, closer US-Saudi relationship is particularly controversial. Experts fear Saudi Arabia may use a civilian nuclear energy program, supported by the US, to develop their own atomic bombs.
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NUCLEAR WARModeling the Threat of Nuclear War
It’s a question that occupies significant bandwidth in the world of nuclear arms security: Could hypersonic missiles, which fly at speeds of least five times the speed of sound, increase the likelihood of nuclear war? As part of his MIT doctoral studies in nuclear science and engineering, Eli Sanchez investigated whether hypersonic missiles threaten global security.
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CHINA WATCHO-RAN Is Overhyped as Avoiding Chinese 5G Influence
In recent years, countries have faced a stark choice between Chinese and Western suppliers to develop their 5G cellular network infrastructure. While Chinese suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE are not trusted because of their ties and legal obligations to China’s party-state, Western suppliers have struggled to compete on cost. The emergence of Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology has some promised, but the idea that O-RAN is a viable alternative to Chinese suppliers seems hollow.
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DEEPFAKES & ELECTIONSColorado Law Will Require Disclosure of AI-generated Content in Political Ads
A law going into effect in July in Colorado will place new regulations and penalties on using artificial intelligence to manipulate video or images and using them in political campaigns. The new law will require disclaimers on communications generated or substantially altered by AI which falsely depict what a candidate or elected official has said or done.
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CYBERSECURITYStudy Sheds Light on Shady World of Text Message Phishing Scams
Researchers have collected and analyzed an unprecedented amount of data on SMS phishing attacks, shedding light on both the scope and nature of SMS phishing operations.
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RADARRadar Is Advancing at Historic Speed. How Engineers Are Setting the Pace.
In a whirling geopolitical landscape of new nuclear weapons, hypersonic weapons, drones and satellites, the U.S. is hustling to test new kinds of radars aimed at detecting evolving threats.
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OUR PICKSTo Win the Chip War, the U.S. Must Prioritize Revolutionary Research | You Think You Know How Misinformation Spreads? | How Safe Is America's Drinking Water Supply?, and more
· You Think You Know How Misinformation Spreads? Welcome to the Hellhole of Programmatic Advertising
The internet is a cesspool of misinformation, and the biggest blue-chip brands and their ad agencies are the ones funding it—by stuffing money into a Rube Goldberg machine no one really understand· Once a Sheriff’s Deputy in Florida, Now a Source of Disinformation from Russia
In 2016, Russia used an army of trolls to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. This year, an American given asylum in Moscow may be accomplishing much the same thing all by himself· To Win the Chip War, the U.S. Must Prioritize Revolutionary Research
Success against China requires that America maintain a technological edge· Anduril Is Building Out the Pentagon’s Dream of Deadly Drone Swarms
The US military aims to maintain its dominance by building autonomous attack drones that collaborate with humans and overwhelm defenses in swarms· How Safe Is America’s Drinking Water Supply?
U.S. issued a stark warning this week warning that the threat to the United States’ supply of drinking water is increasing· Billionaire Gets 7 Months in Prison, Expulsion from U.S. After HSI New York Probe
Chinese billionaire was sentenced to seven months in prison for making political contributions in the names of other -
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WORLD ROUNDUPUS Concerned Over Iran's Enriched Uranium Stockpile | North Korea Sends Poop-Filled Balloons South | ‘Wall of Drones’ to Monitor NATO Border with Russia, and more
· Germany: Far-Right AfD Stumbles Ahead of EU Election
The Alternative for Germany has seen turbulent weeks: Top candidates caused outrage by trivializing Nazi crimes and are being investigated for links to China and Russia· Germany’s Far-Right Party Is Running Hateful Ads on Facebook and Instagram
Published ahead of the EU elections, the ads blame immigrants for crime and sexual violence· Is China building a strategic foothold in Cambodia?
Joint military drills this month suggest the ties between China and Cambodia are growing stronger. Experts argue Beijing will use Cambodia as a conduit to further its strategic interests in the South China Sea· North Korea Sends Poop-Filled Balloons South
North Korean balloons dropped feces and other garbage on busy streets, in front of residences, and in other public areas across South Korea on Wednesday· US Concerned Over Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stockpile
Iran has increased its quantity of enriched uranium that is near weapons-grade levels· China Is Testing the U.S.-Philippines Alliance
Here’s how Washington and Manila can respond to Beijing’s gray-zone tactics in the South China Sea· ‘Wall of Drones’ to Monitor NATO Border with Russia
Latvian president says they will guard against migration being used as a ‘weapon’ by Putin as well as other possible provocations· Pushing the Boundaries
The map of the world is likely to be redrawn, thanks to the decline of post war Pax Americana, an expansionist Russia and China, and the push for ethnic sovereignty· Quarter of Political Donations in EU Go to Extremist and Populist Parties, Data Reveals
Figures from 200 parties in 25 countries suggest hardline groups have had rise in donations in recent years, increasing war chests before European parliament elections· Italy’s PM Says Fascism Is ‘Consigned to History’. Not Everyone Is So Sure
They line up in military-like formation: a thousand strong, most dressed in black, some with tattoos on shaved scalps -
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CHINA WATCHChina's Digital Silk Road Exports Internet Technology, Controls
A Chinese initiative known as the “Digital Silk Road” is helping Southeast Asian nations modernize their digital landscapes. But rights groups say Beijing is also exporting its model of authoritarian governance of the internet through censorship, surveillance and controls.
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DEEPFAKESAnalyzing the Characteristics of AI-generated Deepfakes
Most of the deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that spread through social media feature political representatives and artists and are often linked to current news cycles. The findings of a new research are applicable to different fields, from national security to the integrity of election campaigns.
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PROTEST MOVEMENTSPolitical Elites Take Advantage of Anti-Partisan Protests to Disrupt Politics
Protest movements that reject political parties have an unintended consequence: They empower savvy politicians, who channel them to shake up the status quo. The findings provide a framework for understanding recent global political realignments.
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CYERSECURITYMajor Gaps in Cybersecurity at Auto Workshops
Many auto workshops do not know enough about how to keep our cars safe from cyberattacks, a new study reveals. “A large proportion of the vehicle fleet could practically be entirely open to attacks or already breached,” says a cybersecurity expert.
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HYDROGEN HAZARDSWhat Are the Risks of Hydrogen Vehicles in Tunnels?
In addition to electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles are also seen as an alternative to conventionally powered vehicles. Scientists have analyzed the risk and damage potential of hydrogen vehicles in tunnels and derived recommendations. Their conclusion? Any damage would be extensive, but its occurrence is unlikely.
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POWER-GRID RESILIENCERevolutionizing Energy Grid Maintenance: How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming the Future
Scientists are leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to transform energy grid asset maintenance, helping U.S. power companies identify and address problems before they even occur, helping to ensure the security and reliability of America’s energy infrastructure.
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FLOODSTexas’ First-Ever Statewide Flood Plan Estimates 5 Million Live in Flood-Prone Areas
The state’s flood plan shows which Texans are most at risk of flooding and suggests billions of dollars more are needed for flood mitigation projects. Texas plans to reduce the risk for those people by recommending solutions to harden Texas against floods and rising sea levels.
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CLIMATE CHALLENGES2023 Was the Hottest Summer in Two Thousand Years
Researchers have found that 2023 was the hottest summer in the Northern Hemisphere in the past two thousand years, almost four degrees warmer than the coldest summer during the same period. Even allowing for natural climate variations over hundreds of years, 2023 was still the hottest summer since the height of the Roman Empire, exceeding the extremes of natural climate variability by half a degree Celsius.
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OUR PICKSNuclear Energy’s Bottom Line | Seawater: Untapped Bounty of Critical Metals | A Guide to Content Moderation for Policymakers, and more
· Russian Disinformation in Europe Sounds an Alarm for U.S. Elections
With European parliamentary elections coming in June, Moscow has jumped into action· Nuclear Energy’s Bottom Line
The United States used to build nuclear-power plants affordably. To meet our climate goals, we’ll need to learn how to do it again· Elon Musk Dominates Space Launch. Rivals Are Calling Foul.
Musk is increasingly using his vast power and influence to try to keep emerging rivals at bay· How Many EV Charging Stations Does the US Need to Totally Replace Gas Stations?
The United States could fully transition to electric vehicles in about 20 years. When that happens, we’re going to need a lot of chargers· In Seawater, Researchers See an Untapped Bounty of Critical Metals
Can metals that naturally occur in seawater be mined, and can they be mined sustainably?· Arizona Secretary of State Calls Threats to Election Officials ‘Domestic Terrorism’
Adrian Fontes made comments on NBC panel of elections officials from states whose voters could decide 2024 presidential election· A Guide to Content Moderation for Policymakers
While prominent social media platforms may be biased and imperfect, the government cannot solve these problems and will only make them worse -
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WORLD ROUNDUPWhat If Iran Already Has the Bomb? | Can a U.S.-China Military Hotline Stop the Downward Spiral? | Islamic Terrorism Is About to Return to Europe, and more
· Can a U.S.-China Military Hotline Stop the Downward Spiral?
New communications channels between the superpowers are a hopeful sign· What If Iran Already Has the Bomb?
For the first time, Iranian officials are openly threatening to build a nuclear weapon—and even intimating that they already have· Democracies Aren’t the Peacemakers Anymore
How Washington can reclaim its diplomatic primacy in an authoritarian age· The Inevitable Role of Clans in Post-Conflict Stabilization in Gaza
The question of clans’ role in post-conflict Gaza has yet to gain any significant attention among policymakers outside of Israel and Palestine· Iran’s Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium Stock Grows, Talks Stall, IAEA Reports Say
Iran is enriching uranium to close to weapons-grade at a steady pace· Islamic Terrorism Is About to Return to Europe, the Possible Targets: the Paris Olympics and Euro 2024
The threat of terrorism has been there all along, but because of the attacks on October 7, 2023, it has taken off the media’s attention· The United States Is Expected to Lift Its Ban on the Sale of Offensive Weapons to Saudi Arabia
Lifting the ban would represent Washington’s latest move to improve U.S.-Saudi relations -
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FINANCIAL-SYSTEMS SECURITYEmerging Threats to the U.S. Financial System
In early 2021, a freewheeling, freethinking group of investors on Reddit plowed their money into GameStop, a video game retailer that several big hedge funds had bet against. The stock price shot up, some people made millions—and, to the delight of those on Reddit, the hedge funds had some very bad days. Researchers saw the GameStop story as a cautionary tale. If investors on Reddit could work together to move the markets like that, what could an adversary like China do?
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CHINA WATCHChinese Military Drills Test Taiwan’s Defense Readiness, Analysts Say
China wrapped up a two-day, large-scale military exercise Friday after its forces deployed 111 aircraft and 46 naval vessels to areas around Taiwan. Experts say the Chinese military simulated some scenarios that would be involved in a potential invasion of Taiwan during the exercise.
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NUCLEAR WARIs Putin Preparing for Nuclear War?
On 6 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he had authorized a military exercise involving the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in southern Russia. This is the first time such an announcement has been made since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Putin needs to understand that even use of tactical nuclear weapons by him may risk total war and the end of Russia as a functioning state.
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The long view
GUNSStudy Quantifies Dramatic Rise in School Shootings and Related Fatalities Since 1970
Incidence of school shootings increasing dramatically: In the 53 years leading up to May 2022, the number of school shootings annually increased more than 12 times. Children more likely to be victims. The likelihood of children being school shooting victims has increased more than fourfold, and the rate of death from school shootings has risen more than sixfold. A total of 2,056 school shooting incidents were analyzed: The incidents involved 3,083 victims, including 2,033 children ages 5-17 years, and 1,050 adults ages 18-74 years.
PROTECTING SOFT TARGETSImproving the Security of Soft Targets and Crowded Places
Attacks on soft targets and crowded places (ST-CPs) represent a significant challenge. How can prevention, protection, and response and recovery investments reduce the risk of casualties from attacks on ST-CPs?
BIOSECURITYCanada’s Biosecurity Scandal: The Risks of Foreign Interference in Life Sciences
By Brendan Walker-Munro
In July 2019, world-renowned biological researchers Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng were quietly walked out of the Canadian government’s National Microbiology Lab (NML). The original allegation against them was that Qiu had authorized a shipment to China of some of the deadliest viruses on the planet, including Ebola and Nipah. Then the story seemed to go away—until now.
ARGUMENT: RUSSIAN DISINFORMATIONDon’t Buy Moscow’s Shameless Campaign Tying Biden to Its Terrorist Attack
Russia has offered many different explanations to the ISIS-K’s 22 March 2024 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, but the most recent explanation offered by Russia is the most audacious yet: Russia now charges that the Ukrainian energy company Burisma financed the attack. Burisma is at the center of an effort by a congressional committee to impeach President Biden, but the case has all but collapsed. Hunter Stoll writes that Russia’s disinformation and propaganda apparatus appears to be searching for ways to keep Burisma in the news ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
MILITARY STRATEGYA Return to U.S. Casualty Aversion
By John Mueller
The 9/11 Wars as aberrations: After the extended, tragically costly, and fundamentally absurd aberrations caused by the overreaction to 9/11, a more limited American military approach appears to be back—and perhaps is even more embraced than in the post‐Vietnam decades.
RADIATION DETECTIONA New Way to Detect Radiation Involving Cheap Ceramics
By Elizabeth A. Thomson
The radiation detectors used today for applications like inspecting cargo ships for smuggled nuclear materials are expensive and cannot operate in harsh environments, among other disadvantages. Work by MIT engineers could lead to plethora of new applications, including better detectors for nuclear materials at ports.
PUBLIC HEALTHAction Needed to Improve U.S. Smallpox Readiness and Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Therapeutics: Report
A new report says that action is needed to enhance U.S. readiness for smallpox and related diseases, as well as to improve diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics that could be used in case of an outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed weaknesses in the ability of U.S. public health and health care systems to adapt and respond to an unfamiliar pathogen, as did challenges during the recent mpox outbreak to rapidly making diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics available at scale.
CYBERDETERRENCETantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
By Trina West
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
ENERGY SECURITYWest Reliant on Russian Nuclear Fuel Amid Decarbonization Push
By Henry Ridgwell
A new report and research from a British defense research group has found that many Western nations are still reliant on Russian nuclear fuel to power their reactors, despite efforts to sever economic ties with the Kremlin following its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
NUCLEAR POWERGeorgia’s Vogtle Plant Could Herald the Beginning — or End — of a New Nuclear Era
By Gautama Mehta
Few issues are as divisive among American environmentalists as nuclear energy. Concerns about nuclear waste storage and safety, particularly in the wake of the 1979 Three Mile Island reactor meltdown in Pennsylvania, helped spur the retirement of nuclear power plants across the country. Nuclear energy’s proponents, however, counter that nuclear power has historically been among the safest forms of power generation, and that the consistent carbon-free energy it generates makes it an essential tool in the fight against global warming. The $35 billion Vogtle nuclear project is an investment in the future or a cautionary tale, depending whom you ask.
PUBLIC HEALTHExperts Warn Climate Change Will Fuel Spread of Infectious Diseases
A team of infectious diseases experts is calling for more awareness and preparedness in the medical field to deal with the impact of climate change on the spread of diseases. They raise the alarm about the emergence and spread of harmful pathogens.
CLIMATE MIGRATIONThe Flooding Will Come “No Matter What”
By Abrahm Lustgarten
Another great American migration is now underway, this time forced by the warming that is altering how and where people can live. For now, it’s just a trickle. But in the corners of the country’s most vulnerable landscapes —on the shores of its sinking bayous and on the eroding bluffs of its coastal defenses —populations are already in disarray. The complex, contradictory, and heartbreaking process of American climate migration is underway.
TRUTH DECAY‘Fake News’ Legislation Risks Doing More Harm Than Good Amid a Record Number of Elections in 2024
By Samuel Jens
“Fake news” legislation that governments around the world have written in recent years to combat mis- and disinformation does little to protect journalistic freedom. Rather, it can create a greater risk of harm. That’s the main finding of a review I helped conduct of legislation either considered or passed over the past several years related to fake news and mis- and disinformation.
CLIMATE CHANGE & BUSINESSCompanies Ignoring Climate Risks Get Punished by Markets: Study
By Allison Alsup
Companies that proactively manage climate risks boost their valuations, while those with a passive stance are discounted in the equity market, according to new research.
PROTECTING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREPlan B: Keeping Nuclear Power Plants Cool in a Warmer, Drier Climate
By Kristen Mally Dean
Waterways — tried and true cooling sources for nuclear power plants — could get warmer due to global climate change. Climate scientists and nuclear science and engineering experts are joining forces to develop a plan B for nuclear power.