• Arab world welcomes Brotherhood’s fall

    Leaders throughout the Arab world could barely contain their glee at the news that the short and acrimonious era of Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt is over, and is not likely to return. The fractious Arab world has rarely shown such unanimity. Familiarity breeds contempt, though, and the antipathy toward the Brotherhood and its brand of politics has always been something most Arabs – secular and religious – could agree on, and on Thursday the region was awash with schadenfreude.

  • Protecting drinking water systems from deliberate contamination

    The importance of water and of water infrastructures to human health and to the running of the economy makes water systems likely targets for terrorism and CBRN (chemical, biological, and radionuclide) contamination. Reducing the vulnerability of drinking water systems to deliberate attacks is one of the major security challenges. An international project has developed a response program for rapidly restoring the use of drinking water networks following a deliberate contamination event.

  • Egypt’s military ousts Morsi from the presidency, suspends constitution

    Acting on its ultimatum, the Egyptian military has ousted Mohammed Morsi from the presidency of Egypt and announced that the constitution, ratified last December, has been suspended. Parliament, too, has been disbanded. Government ministers were ordered to clean their desks and vacate their offices. The chief of the constitutional court will assume the role of president on an interim basis.

  • Isolated, defiant Morsi rallies his supporters for battle as army’s ultimatum looms

    Facing an ultimatum issued Monday by Egypt’s powerful army, President Mohamed Morsi, in a midnight speech, defiantly announced that he would not resign under pressure and, if necessary, protect his presidency with his life. Analysts note that the speech was aimed to rally his Islamic supporters and prepare them for likely violence ahead, rather than placate the protesters or signal his willingness to reconcile with the demands of the military. The military gave Morsi until 17:00 Egypt’s time (10:00 a.m. EST) to meet the protesters’ demands – chief among them Morsi’s own resignation. In response to Morsi’s speech, the Egyptian military announced: “We swear to God that we will sacrifice even our blood for Egypt and its people, to defend them against any terrorist, radical or fool.”

  • Senate immigration bill could yield billions in federal contracts

    The Senate immigration bill will see billions of dollars go to defense and technology companies as a result of billions of dollars in new and expanded federal contracts aiming to bolster border security.

  • U.S. tax code has minimal effect on CO2, other greenhouse gas emissions

    Current federal tax provisions have minimal net effect on greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from the National Research Council. The report found that several existing tax subsidies have unexpected effects, and others yield little reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of revenue loss.

  • Egyptian military hits the reset button on Egypt’s Arab Spring

    There are still twenty-four hours left in yesterday’s 48-hour ultimatum the Egyptian military  gave President Mohammed Morsi to meet the protesters’ demands. The military said that if Morsi did not meet the protesters’ demands, then it — the military — will unveil its own “roadmap for the future” of Egypt. Sources in the Egyptian military are not waiting until Wednesday to outline the plan – or roadmap — the military will announce tomorrow. The roadmap will consist of five steps: removing Morsi and his government, appointing an interim government of technocrats, disbanding parliament, rewriting of the constitution, and calling for new elections.

  • Egypt’s military gives Morsi 48 hours to meet demonstrators’ demands – or else (updated)

    On Monday, following days of anti-government demonstrations, which culminated Sunday with millions of Egyptians filling the streets of Egypt’s major cities, the Egyptian military issued an ultimatum to President Mohammed Morsi: the military gave the president forty-eight hours to respond to the demands of the protesters – chief among them that he resigned from the position of president. If Morsi failed to meet the demands of the protesters, the military said it would offer its own “roadmap for the future” of Egypt. Ten government ministers announced their resignation from the cabinet in sympathy with the protesters. The interior Ministry announced its “complete solidarity” with the military. Morsi’s aides indicated he would not give in to the threat of a military coup.

  • NSA revelations raise doubts about passage of cybersecurity legislation

    U.S. officials say the revelations about the National Security Agency’s(NSA) domestic surveillance programs could make it harder for lawmakers to pass a cybersecurity bill. Critics of the House cybersecurity bill, known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which was passed earlier this year (it is still being debated in the Senate), argued the bill could lead to private information falling into the hands of the NSA.

  • Lawmakers want to ease travel to U.S. as part of immigration legislation

    A bi-partisan group of House lawmakers is working to include a provision in the House immigration legislation which will make it easier to travel to the United States. Travel industry groups support the effort, having fought for years to get the government to relax security measures. The industry has argued that these measures have turned off many foreigners from traveling to the United States.

  • FAA investigating use of Michigan state-owned planes

    The Federal Aviation Administration(FAA)is looking into the State of Michigan’s practice of leasing its passenger planes to athletic officials at Michigan State University(MSU).

  • Egypt’s military gives Morsi 48 hours to meet demonstrators’ demands – or else

    Two-and-a-half years ago, as a wave of popular demonstrations against the government of President Hosni Mubarak engulfed Egypt, the Egyptian military told Mubarak that it was not going to shoot at the protesters and suppress the demonstrations, and that the only way out of the crisis would be for Mubarak to resign. Earlier today (Monday), following days of anti-government demonstrations, which culminated Sunday with millions of Egyptians filling the streets of Egypt’s major cities, the Egyptian military issued a similar ultimatum to President Mohammed Morsi: the military gave the president forty-eight hours to respond to the demands of the protesters – chief among them that he resigned from the position of president. If Morsi failed to meet the demands of the protesters, the military said it would offer its own “roadmap for the future” of Egypt.

  • Documents show NSA conducted surveillance of EU member states, embassies (updated)

    European politicians issued indignant warnings Sunday to the United States that U.S.-European relations may suffer as a result of revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on European governments and their embassies in Washington, and on European Union (EU) offices. The revelations were contained in documents, dated 2010, which Edward Snowden took from Booz Allen. Observers note that the revelations are not exactly news, since it has always been assumed that the United States spies on the activities of foreign diplomats – even those representing allies — in the United States. It has also been assumed that the United States was conducting surveillance of major countries and international institutions. Moreover, at least seven European Union member states – the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy — have formal agreements with the United States to provide communications metadata to the NSA. “There’s a certain schadenfreude here [in Europe] that we’re important enough to be spied on,” a senior European official said. “This was bound to come out one day. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some of our member states were not doing the same to the Americans.”

  • Following DOMA decision, DHS will offer gay couples same benefits as straight couples

    DHS secretary Janet Napolitano said that following the Supreme Court’s decision to declare the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, her department will work to give benefits to same-sex legally married couples.

  • FEMA demands that Erie County, N.Y. return millions in disaster relief

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will hold off on deciding whether to collect millions of dollars given to Erie County, New York in the aftermath of the October Surprise storm of 2006. The record-shattering storm caused widespread damage in Buffalo, and FEMA gave Erie country millions of dollars in disaster relief. Departmental audit has found that country officials did not use the money properly, and FEMA wants $48 million of it back.