• MISSILE DEFENSE15 Things You Don’t Know About Israel’s Air Defense Systems

    By John Jeffay

    Israel has sustained attacks from enemies throughout its history and has invested heavily in high tech defense technologies that are the envy of the world’s military.

  • HAZARDOUS MATERIALSTransporting Hazardous Materials Across the Country Isn’t Easy − That’s Why There’s a Host of Regulations in Place

    By Michael F. Gorman

    Transporting hazardous materials such as dangerous gases, poisons, harmful chemicals, corrosives and radioactive material across the country is risky. But because approximately 3 billion pounds of hazardous material needs to go from place to place in the U.S. each year, it’s unavoidable.

  • SUPPLY-CHAIN SECURITYBaltimore Bridge Collapse Tests U.S. Supply Chains

    By Zongyuan Zoe Liu

    The Baltimore bridge accident and the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have raised concern about the security of global supply chains. But supply chains have been resilient thus far, and U.S. efforts to fortify them are accelerating.

  • DEEPFAKESDeFake Tool Protects Voice Recordings from Cybercriminals

    By Shawn Ballard

    In what has become a familiar refrain when discussing AI-enabled technologies, voice cloning is enabling increasingly sophisticated scams and deepfakes. The Federal Trade Commission held a Voice Cloning Challenge to encourage the development of technologies to prevent, monitor and evaluate malicious voice cloning.

  • EXTREMISMCampus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges

    College campuses have been the site of many tense anti-Israel protests and antisemitic incidents since the start of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attack. Anti-Zionist student groups on over a dozen U.S. college and university campuses have established “encampments” in recent days to ostensibly protest Israel’s actions in Gaza and their academic institutions’ alleged “complicity” in those actions.

  • IRAN’S NUKESIran's Nuclear Activities 'Raises Eyebrows' at IAEA

    By Biresh Banerjee and Zachary Crellin

    Iran’s enrichment of uranium and a lack of access to international monitors is fueling suspicions about its nuclear activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency said its committed to promoting dialogue with Tehran.

  • WORLD ROUNDUPJapan’s Remarkable Call for American Leadership | Germany Arrests ‘Chinese Spy’ in Second AfD Scandal | China Weaponizes Disinformation Against Taiwan, and more

    ·  Germany Arrests ‘Chinese Spy’ in Second AfD Scandal
    Hard-right opposition party rocked by claims of Beijing infiltration and Russian cash

    ·  Israel Offers No Evidence for UN Refugee Agency Terror Claim
    International donors suspended $450 million in funding after Israel claimed staff had joined the October 7 Hamas attacks

    ·  Pessimistic Young Germans Turning to Far Right, Says Study
    German teenagers and young adults find themselves increasingly unsatisfied and likely to vote for the far right, according to a survey. Fears about prosperity are highlighted as a possible cause

    ·  Climate Change and Extreme Weather Impacts Hit Asia Hard
    Asia is warming faster than the global average

    ·  Copernicus Report Shows Year of Weather Extremes in Europe
    Drought, wildfires, floods and record heat in Europe: last year was one of extreme climate impacts for humans and nature. But there’s also some positive news

    ·  How Would China Weaponize Disinformation Against Taiwan in a Cross-Strait Conflict?
    What might China’s future disinformation operations against Taiwan focus on and how can Taipei and its partners combat them?

    ·  Japan’s Remarkable Call for American Leadership
    Japan clearly takes its role as America’s ally seriously

  • CHINA WATCHChinese Government Poses 'Bold and Unrelenting' Threat to U.S. Critical Infrastructure: FBI

    FBI Director Christopher Wray on 18 April warned that risks the government of China poses to U.S. national and economic security are “upon us now”—and that U.S. critical infrastructure is a prime target. He said that partnerships, joint operations, and private sector vigilance can help us fight back.

  • CHINA WATCHSpyware as Service: What the i-Soon Files Reveal About China’s Targeting of the Tibetan Diaspora

    Governments are increasingly incorporating cyber operations into the arsenal of statecraft. This sophisticated integration combines open-source intelligence, geospatial intelligence, human intelligence, and cyber espionage with artificial intelligence, allowing for the gathering and analysis of ever-expanding data sets. Increasingly, such operations are being outsourced.

  • IRAN’S THREATIran versus Israel: Who Has the Military Edge?

    By Kian Sharifi

    In the event of a direct conflict with Iran, Israel would have the military superiority, both offensively and defensively, experts say. But they say the threat posed by Iran’s arsenal of drones and missiles should not be dismissed. Even so, Israel maintains military supremacy.

  • IRAN’S THREATVitriolic Reactions to Arouri's Killing Highlight His Importance to the Iranian Regime’s “Axis of Resistance”

    The death on 2 January 2024 of Saleh Al-Arouri, a leading Hamas financier and military leader, resulted in threats of retribution against Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah and other regional proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

  • CYBERSECURITYIsrael’s Cybersecurity Market is Maturing, and Just in Time

    By Zachy Hennessey

    As tensions around the world rise and cyber threats multiply like digital rabbits, the Israeli cyber scene’s maturation seems like a saving grace.

  • SCHOOL SAFETYTennessee Is Ramping Up Penalties for Student Threats. Research Shows That’s Not the Best Way to Keep Schools Safe.

    By Aliyya Swaby

    After a former student killed six people last year at the private Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, state leaders have been looking for ways to make schools safer. Their focus so far has been to ramp up penalties against current students who make mass threats against schools. Months after the killings, legislators passed a law requiring students who make such threats to be expelled for a year. But a large body of research shows these zero-tolerance measures are not the most effective way to prevent violence in schools.

  • WATER SECURITYIn a First, California Cracks Down on Farms Guzzling Groundwater

    By Jake Bittle

    In much of the United States, groundwater extraction is unregulated and unlimited. This lack of regulation has allowed farmers nationwide to empty aquifers of trillions of gallons of water for irrigation and livestock. In many places, such as California’s Central Valley, the results have been devastating. California has just imposed a first-of-its-kind mandatory fee on water pumping by farmers in the Tulare Lake subbasin, one of the state’s largest farming areas.

  • OUR PICKSIs the U.S. Ready for Extraterrestrials? Not If They’re Microbes | Outdated ridge Safety Standards | Cyberattacks Caused One Texas Water System to Overflow, and more

    ·  Is the U.S. Ready for Extraterrestrials? Not If They’re Microbes.
    As fantastical as it may sound, astrobiodefense is neither hypothetical nor fictional

    ·  The Next Pandemic Threat Demands Action Now
    Governments should act now to deploy the capacities at their disposal to guard against the uncontrolled spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus

    ·  H5N1 Bird Flu in U.S. Cattle: A Wake-Up Call to Action
    This evolutionary leap, if confirmed, underscores the adaptability of the H5N1 virus and raises concerns about the next step required for a pandemic

    ·  Baltimore Bridge Collapse Highlights Outdated Safety Standards, Experts Say
    Engineers say the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge shows how U.S. system hasn’t evolved to keep up with modern challenges

    ·  A Toxic Grass That Threatens a Quarter of U.S. Cows Is Spreading Because of Climate Change
    Fescue toxicosis costs the livestock industry up to $2 billion a year in lost production

    ·  Rural Texas Towns Report Cyberattacks That Caused One Water System to Overflow
    Local officials said the public was not put in any danger and the attempts were reported to federal authorities

  • WORLD ROUNDUPThe Growing Incentive to Go Nuclear | Paris Tests AI Surveillance Ahead of Olympics | Forget About Chips—China Is Coming for Ships, and more

    ·  Hindu Nationalism Now Mainstream, Thanks to Modi’s Decade in Power
    Modi has achieved staying power by making Hindu nationalism acceptable — desirable, even — to a nation of 1.4 billion that for decades prided itself on pluralism and secularism

    ·  The Growing Incentive to Go Nuclear
    Biden has inadvertently encouraged vulnerable nations to seek the ultimate shield

    ·  Have Israel and the United States Done Enough to Deter Iran?
    U.S. allies intercepted hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles, and then Israeli forces counterattacked in a limited strike—but the threat of regional war remains

    ·  Forget About Chips—China Is Coming for Ships
    Beijing’s grab for hegemony in a critical sector follows a familiar playbook

    ·  How Nongovernmental Entities Are Tailoring Their Outreach to Address Nuclear Escalation
    Analysis shows there is little consensus in systematically categorizing and assessing the impact of nongovernmental entities on nuclear weapons issues

    ·  Paris Tests AI Surveillance Ahead of Olympics
    French police will test AI-supported surveillance at events in the capital to prepare for this summer’s Olympics. Weekend tests will cover two large events and nearby public transport sites

    ·  U.S. to Withdraw Troops from Niger: Officials
    More than 1,000 U.S. troops stationed in Niger will leave soon. Niger’s military leaders have been growing closer to Russia since seizing power in a coup last year

    ·  Tajikistan Striving to Convince the World That It Can Contain Terrorism
    Dushanbe’s strategy ignores underlying sources of radicalization

    ·  Miscalculation Led to Escalation in Clash Between Israel and Iran
    Israeli officials say they didn’t see a strike on a high-level Iranian target in Syria as a provocation, and did not give Washington a heads-up about it until right before it happened

    ·  Switzerland’s Lower House Moves to Ban Use of Nazi and Extremist Symbols That Could Stir Violence
    The proposal goes beyond a simple ban on Nazi memorabilia, which had failed in the past in parliament, to include other forms of extremist symbols

  • ELECTION SECURITYSecurity Agencies Warn Election Officials to Brace for Attacks on U.S. Presidential Race

    By Jeff Seldin

    U.S. intelligence and security agencies are trying to prepare election officials across the United States for a wave of new attacks aiming to destroy voter confidence in November’s presidential election, just as a series of reports warn that familiar adversaries – Russia, China, and Iran — are starting to ramp up their efforts.

  • CHINA WATCHSuozzi, Smith Relaunch the Congressional Uyghur Caucus

    In July 2021, Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) launched the bipartisan Congressional Uyghur Caucus to raise awareness of China’s systemic human rights violations against the Uyghur people and to support legislation aimed at addressing this coordinated human rights abuse. Suozzi decided not to run in 2022 for another term – but won the seat (NY-3) again in a special election in February this year. One of his first acts in Congress: Relaunching, with Smith, the Uyghur Caucus.

  • NUCLEAR WEAPONSKey Weapons Component Development Milestone

    By Kenny Vigil

    Sandia and the Kansas City National Security Campus completed a crucial weapons component development milestone, prior to full rate production. The Mark 21 Replacement Fuze interfaces with the W87-0 warhead for deployment onto the Minuteman III and, eventually, the Sentinel ICBM.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSAustralia’s Leadership Imperatives in Critical Minerals

    By Ian Satchwell

    Australia, like Canada, is well placed to be a global leader in the critical minerals sector. The country has the natural endowment, technical expertise and experience, global mining footprint, and mining capital base to back a claim to worldwide leadership.

  • COASTAL CHALLENGESSinking Land Increases Risk for Thousands of Coastal Residents

    By Travis Williams

    One in 50 people living in two dozen coastal cities in the United States could experience significant flooding by 2050, according to new research. The study projects that in the next three decades as many as 500,000 people could be affected as well as a potential 1 in 35 privately owned properties damaged by flooding.

  • WATER SECURITYProblems with Glen Canyon Dam Could Jeopardize Water Flowing to Western States

    By Kyle Dunphey

    Without upgrades to the Glen Canyon dam’s infrastructure, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s ability to get water downstream to the lower Colorado River basin as required by the Colorado River Compact could be in jeopardy. This may be, in the words of concerned groups, “the most urgent water problem” for the Colorado River and the 40 million people who rely on it.