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Rebels, not the Syrian army, fired last week’s chemical weapon: experts
Western intelligence services, analyzing the few facts known about the use of a chemical weapon near Aleppo in north Syria last week, have concluded that it was one of the rebel militias, rather than Assad government forces, which fired a “home-made” chlorine-based chemical artillery round. If the conclusion of the intelligence services is correct, it raises disturbing questions about both the capabilities of at least some rebel militias – and about their readiness to use non-conventional weapons.
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Budget cuts force the FAA to shut down 149 control towers
The FFA will have to cut $637 million before 30 September. It plans to do so by give 47,000 employees two week furloughs, shutting down 149 control towers, and cutting overnight shifts at seventy-two different traffic facilities. Some worry about the impact these measures will have on air travel safety.
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Enhancing Army capabilities as new threats emerge
Some twenty-eight nations have some type of weapons of mass destruction capability, with some of them having nuclear weapons or nuclear-weapons capability. The nuclear materials in many of these countries are kept in hundreds of sites without global safeguards in place for securing them. A senior American military official described these loose nukes as the “single biggest existential threat to Western survival.” Yet, in a recent exercise, the U.S. response time for deploying 90,000 troops to a crisis area – an area which included loose nukes, other WMDs, or both — took fifty-five days. U.S. military leaders say this is just not good enough.
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Israel and Turkey end acrimony, normalize relations
In a major coup for the Obama administration’s Middle East policy, Turkey and Israel have today (Friday) announced that they were putting an end to the increasing acrimony which has characterized their relationship since 2006, acrimony which has intensified even further in May 2010, when Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish citizens who were on a flotilla which tried to break the Israeli maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip. The normalization of relations between the two staunchest U.S. allies in the region would make it easier to establish a U.S.-Israel-Sunni Arab coalition to contain Iran and thwart its hegemonic designs in the region, and will tighten the coordination among Syria’s neighbors as the civil war in Syria enters its final phase, and as preparations for post-Assad Syria are undertaken in earnest.
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Comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform bill to be unveiled early April
The Gang of 8, a bipartisan group of senators, is finalizing work on a comprehensive immigration reform bill which will be introduced shortly after Congress comes back 8 April. The bill will offer a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants, add up to 200,000 visas per year depending on the U.S. economic conditions and employment needs, increase substantially the number of visas allocated for highly skilled tech workers, and reduce some categories of family visas.
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In 2012, Microsoft received 70,665 law-enforcement requests for customer information
On Thursday, Microsoft released the number of law enforcement requests it has received for information on its hundreds of millions of customers. By releasing the information, Microsoft is now putting itself on the same team as Google, Twitter, Yahoo, and other Web businesses which have published reports on law-enforcement request for customer information. In 2012 Microsoft received a total of 70,665 law-enforcement requests for customer information.
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Justice Department agrees 1986 snooping law should be reviewed
The U.S. Justice Department said earlier this week that it supports reviewing legislation which allows U.S. law enforcement officials to read someone’s e-mails without a search warrant. The 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) states that federal authorities only need a subpoena issued by a federal prosecutor, not a judge, to search through a person’s e-mails which are older than 180 days or which have already been opened.
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Gun manufacturer to leave Colorado after governor signs gun bill
Colorado governor John Hickenlooper on Wednesday signed a state gun control bill which will expand background checks and limit ammunition magazine capacity. The measure is notable because Colorado has been considered a firearm-friendly state.
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WOT distorting focus, resource allocation of U.S. intelligence community: experts
The U.S. Intelligence Advisory Board, a panel of fourteen highly regarded and experienced experts, many of whom past holder of high-level national security positions, has submitted a secret report to President Obama in which they say that the intense, 12-year focus of the intelligence community on finding and fighting terrorism has distorted the priorities, resource allocation, and training within that community. Former Senator David Boren, a member of the panel, asks: “in the long run, what’s more important to America: Afghanistan or China?”
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U.S. infrastructure grade raised from D to a D+, but problems loom
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), in its just-released 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, gave the U.S. infrastructure an overall grade of D+, showing slight progress from the D in the last Report Card issued in 2009. The Report Card concludes that to raise the grades and get U.S. infrastructure to an acceptable level, a total investment of $3.6 trillion is needed by 2020. Currently, only about $2 trillion in infrastructure spending is projected, leaving a shortfall of approximately $1.6 trillion.
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Lawmakers question DHS about cutting costs
On Tuesday, during a hearing on inspector general recommendations, House lawmakers pointedly questioned DHS and Defense Department (DoD) officials on departmental efforts to contain costs.
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FAA gives Arlington, Texas police permission to use UAVs
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given the Arlington (Texas) Police Department permission to use two small helicopter UAVs. The FAA did lay out a set of rules for the police department to follow when using the drones.
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Sharia law imposed in some rebel-controlled areas in Syria
The Syrian revolution has mutated from a spontaneous uprising against the authoritarian rule of the Assad family into a full-scale war, and is now changing yet again – into what appears to be a systematic, coordinated effort to impose strict Sharia Islamic law in those parts of Syria which have come under the control of the Jihadi elements in the anti-Assad coalition.
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Alabama wants to teach you how to deal with active-shooter situations
The Alabama Department of Homeland Security (ADHS) has paid for a series of billboards, informing the public there is a video on how to deal with an active shooter situation in a work place or other public settings.
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Concerns about Mali’s future as French prepare to leave
The French military campaign against Islamic militants in northern Mali has killed many of the Jihadists and drove the rest of them from the region’s cities to hideouts in the mountains. Now, as France is getting set to pull its soldiers out, questions are being raised about the ability of the African coalition forces to patrol the vast territory and keep the Islamists at bay. UN officials now consider the formation of a heavily armed rapid-response force of up to 10,000 troops, mostly from Chad, to intervene in Mali in the event the peace keeping force there is unable to deal with the Islamist threat.
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More headlines
The long view
Preventing Another 'Jan. 6' Starts by Changing How Elections Are Certified, Experts Say
The 2024 presidential election may be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but preventing a repeat of Jan. 6, 2021 — when false claims of a stolen election promoted by Donald Trump and his allies led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol —will be top of mind this election year. Research finds broad support among public for nonpartisan certification commissions.
States Rush to Combat AI Threat to Elections
This year’s presidential election will be the first since generative AI became widely available. That’s raising fears that millions of voters could be deceived by a barrage of political deepfakes. Congress has done little to address the issue, but states are moving aggressively to respond — though questions remain about how effective any new measures to combat AI-created disinformation will be.
Chinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
LNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis
U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.