• FLOODSFEMA Is Making an Example of This Florida Boomtown. Locals call it “Revenge Politics.”

    By Jake Bittle

    When U.S. homeowners buy subsidized flood insurance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they make a commitment to build back better after flood disasters, even if it costs them. The Biden administration is trying to punish Lee County for rebuilding flood-prone homes. The state’s Republican politicians are fighting back.

  • IRAN’S THREAT'Nightmare Scenario': The Risks of Escalation as Israel Mulls Iran Response

    By Kian Sharifi

    In the wake of Iran’s attack, Israel has been weighing up its options, which analysts say could range from a diplomatic offensive to isolate Iran to directing military strikes on the Islamic republic. With the risk of escalation higher than ever, the worst-case scenario of an all-out war between Iran and Israel is a distinct possibility, analysts say.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSSoutheast Asia’s Potential in Critical Minerals

    By Han Phoumin

    Global critical mineral demand is expected to increase dramatically in coming decades, from a 7.1 million tons in 2020 to 42.3 million tons in 2050. All manner of sophisticated industries, including defense manufacturing, will also compete for these materials. Southeast Asia has significant natural reserves of several key critical minerals, including nickel, tin, rare-earth elements (REEs) and bauxite, and the region is still not fully explored for more of them.

  • 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.

  • CHINA WATCHESChinese Nationalist Trolls Pretend to Be Trump Supporters Ahead of U.S. Elections

    By Lin Yang

    Chinese nationalist trolls have been posing as American supporters of former President Donald Trump on X to try to exploit domestic divisions ahead of the U.S. election. China’s so-called Spamouflage troll network mimics Russia’s playbook during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when Moscow used information warfare to damage the Clinton campaign, boost Trump’s chances and sow distrust in American democracy.

  • 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?

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • GUNSStudy of Fatal and Nonfatal Shootings by Police Reveals Racial Disparities, Dispatch Risks

    Analysis, thought to be one of the first published studies that captures both fatal and nonfatal injurious shootings by police nationally, also highlights risks of well-being checks.

  • 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.

  • ENERGY SECURITYHow Texas Is Playing a Major Role in the Race to Develop Clean Energy Technologies

    By Alejandra Martinez

    The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into developing clean power sources. In this conversation hosted by The Texas Tribune in Houston, panelists discussed how Texas companies are playing a major role in emerging technologies like hydrogen and geothermal.

  • POWER GRIDIn the Central U.S., an Electric Grid Bottleneck Persists

    By Robert Zullo

    Forty-five million people live in the area managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the organization that runs a massive portion of the North American electric grid running from Manitoba, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico. Where the northern part of the system meets the southern end — a narrow corridor that traverses a corner of southeast Missouri and northeastern Arkansas — there’s a bottleneck that can hurt electric customers and create major inefficiencies on both sides of the divide.

  • OUR PICKSMicrosoft Report Signals ‘Great Concern’ for Dam Cybersecurity | Integrated Approach Needed at the Southern Border | You Probably Shouldn’t Panic About Measles — Yet, and more

    ·  In Reversal, More Areas Allow High-Speed Police Chases
    Supporters of policy rollbacks say police pursuits can reduce crime; some experts aren’t so sure

    ·  Russian Hackers Accessed U.S. Government Emails in Microsoft Breach, CISA Says
    The alert comes a week after Microsoft was faulted in a DHS report for fostering a security culture that enabled a similar China-backed cyberattack last year

    ·  Microsoft Report Signals ‘Great Concern’ for Dam Cybersecurity, Top FERC Official Says
    The company’s products are heavily used in the dam sector, the official said

    ·  The Integrated Approach Needed at the Southern Border to Degrade the Flow of Narcotics into the Homeland
    A wall is a feasible plan, but it will only make a difference if integrated into a holistic border security program

    ·  You Probably Shouldn’t Panic About Measles — Yet
    Disease surveillance has so far kept the infection at bay in the US, but the CDC has renewed concerns

    ·  Colorado Is Latest State to Try Turning Off the Electrical Grid to Prevent Wildfires − a Complex, Technical Operation Pioneered in California
    The U.S. power grid is the largest and most complex machine ever built. It’s also aging and under increasing stress from climate-driven disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes and heat waves

  • WORLD ROUNDUPFor Many Western Allies, Sending Weapons to Israel Gets Dicey | Mexico City’s Metro System Is Sinking Fast | Ways to Counter Australia’s Growing Neo-Nazi Threat, and more

    ·  For Many Western Allies, Sending Weapons to Israel Gets Dicey
    As civilian casualties in Gaza spiral, some nations are suspending sales amid accusations of abetting genocide and war crimes

    ·  Republicans Are More United on Foreign Policy Than It Seems
    Squabbles over Ukraine aid obscure broader consensus among the party’s two major wings

    ·  Mexico City’s Metro System Is Sinking Fast. Yours Could Be Next
    Subsidence is causing parts of Mexico City to sink, and it’s happening at an uneven rate. That’s bad news for its sprawling public transportation system

    ·  Europe Is Already Planning for What Happens If Ukraine Loses. It’s Ugly
    A newly energized Russia is already escalating grey-zone operations in Eastern Europe, says Estonia’s defense minister

    ·  Ways to Counter Australia’s Growing Neo-Nazi Threat
    Far-right extremists, including white supremacists and neo-Nazis, are getting louder and more confident in spreading their messages of hate around Australia

    ·  Argentinian Court Declares Iran a “Terrorist State” for 1992 and 1994 Attacks
    Decades-old attacks blamed on Iran and Hezbollah

  • DISINFORMATIONRussia's Disinformation Campaign Seeps into U.S. Views

    By Tatiana Vorozhko

    The Washington Post recently published an investigation into an extensive and coordinated Russian campaign to influence U.S. public opinion to deny Ukraine the aid. The investigation exposed a Kremlin-linked campaign in which “political strategists and trolls have written thousands of fabricated news articles, social media posts and comments that promote American isolationism, stir fear over the United States’ border security and attempt to amplify U.S. economic and racial tensions,” the Post reported.

  • DISINFORMATIONFrance Fights Disinformation as Olympics, Elections Loom

    By Lisa Louis

    With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics approaching — not to mention the European elections in June — France is ramping up its fight against information manipulation. EU officials are also on guard.

  • AI & WARGaza War: Israel Using AI to Identify Human Targets Raising Fears That Innocents Are Being Caught in the Net

    By Elke Schwarz

    A new report finds that AI targeting systems have played a key role in identifying – and potentially misidentifying – tens of thousands of targets in Gaza. This suggests that autonomous warfare is no longer a future scenario. It is already here and the consequences are horrifying.

  • PUBLIC HEALTHOregon Data: COVID Vaccines Not Tied to Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People

    By Mary Van Beusekom

    A review of death certificates of previously healthy Oregon residents aged 16 to 30 years who died of cardiac or undetermined causes from June 2021 to December 2022 found no link between mRNA COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac death.

  • PUBLIC HEALTHH5N1 Continues to Spread in the U.S. Amid Growing Concern About Threat to Public

    Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) viruses continue to spread across the United States, with nearly 86 million birds affected in 1,118 reported outbreaks across 48 states as of April 10. CDCconfirmed case of H5N1 in a human patient in Texas.

  • 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.

  • CRITICAL MATERIALSOPEN Program Seeks to Prove Technology Capability for Global Critical Materials Market Transparency

    Transparency in critical materials markets is essential to ensuring readiness and to the national security of the United States. It’s also vital to protecting consumers and businesses from the economic costs that stem from supply chain disruptions. DARPA effort selects companies to develop technology for critical commodity pricing, supply, and demand forecasting.

  • OUR PICKSElection Deniers Aren’t Waiting for November | Anthrax Redux: Did the Feds Nab the Wrong Guy? | Trump and the Spy Agencies on a Collision Course, and more

    •  Election Deniers Aren’t Waiting for November
    A toxic mix of disinformation, digital tools, and generative AI is challenging election officials across the country

    •  House Passes 2-Year Surveillance Law Extension without Warrant Requirement
    Speaker Mike Johnson scaled back the measure to two years from five after Donald J. Trump had urged Republicans to “kill” it. An effort to require warrants to search for Americans’ messages failed on a tie

    •  Change Healthcare Faces Another Ransomware Threat—and It Looks Credible

    Change Healthcare ransomware hackers already received a $22 million payment. Now a second group is demanding money, and it has sent WIRED samples of what they claim is the company’s stolen data

    •  Campaign Puts Trump and the Spy Agencies on a Collision Course
    As president, Donald Trump never trusted the intelligence community. His antipathy has only grown since he left office, with potentially serious implications should he return to power

    •  How Election Deniers Became Mainstream—and Are Weaponizing Tech
    Election deniers are training others to challenge voter rolls and overwhelm election officials. And they’re using tech to do it

      Immigrants in Maine Are Filling a Labor Gap. It May Be a Prelude for the U.S.
    A wave of rapid immigration is taxing local resources around the country and drawing political ire. But it might leave America’s economy better off

    •  N.Y.C. Schools Chief to Testify as Congress Expands Antisemitism Inquiry
    A congressional committee that questioned college presidents about how they have handled protests over the Israel-Hamas war is now focusing on K-12 school districts

    •  Anthrax Redux: Did the Feds Nab the Wrong Guy?
    Ten years ago, letters laced with anthrax killed five people. But did the Feds trace the spores to the wrong man?