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Maryland Think Tank Co-Director Charged for Acting as an Agent for China, Iran
Gal Luft, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, allegedly evaded FARA registration while working to advance the interests of China in the United States and seeking to broker the illicit sales of Chinese-manufactured weapons to several countries, and the sale of Iranian oil to China.
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China’s Gallium and Germanium Controls: What They Mean and What Could Happen Next
From August, China is to restrict exports of gallium and germanium, two critical elements for making semiconductor chips. China dominates the supply of both elements. The restrictions look likely to lead to higher prices for gallium and germanium, as well as longer delivery times.
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U.S. Animal Industries Pose Serious Risk of Future Zoonotic Pandemics
Animal industries in the United States pose serious risk of future pandemics and the U.S. government lacks a comprehensive strategy to address these threats, a new study concludes. The study is the first to comprehensively map networks of animal commerce that fuel zoonotic disease risk in the U.S.
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Stressed for a Bit? Then Don’t Click It, Cybersecurity Experts Advise
Workers feeling a specific form of stress are more likely than others to become the victims of a phishing attack. Phishing psychology study explores what makes workers vulnerable.
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How Secure Are Voice Authentication Systems Really?
Voice authentication has increasingly been used in remote banking, call centers and other security-critical scenarios. Attackers can break voice authentication with up to 99 percent success within six tries.
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U.S. Agencies Buy Vast Quantities of Personal Information on the Open Market – a Legal Scholar Explains Why and What It Means for Privacy in the Age of AI
The issues pf the protection of personal information in the digital age is increasingly urgent. Today’s commercially available information, coupled with the now-ubiquitous decision-making artificial intelligence and generative AI like ChatGPT, significantly increases the threat to privacy and civil liberties by giving the government access to sensitive personal information beyond even what it could collect through court-authorized surveillance.
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As Cybercrime Evolves, Organizational Resilience Demands a Mindset Shift
Facing the threat of state-sponsored cyberattack groups, the financial motivations of organized cybercrime gangs and the reckless ambitions of loosely knit hacktivist collectives, organizations are fighting a cybersecurity battle on multiple fronts.
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Opportunities for Australia–ASEAN Collaboration on Critical Minerals
Southeast Asia’s energy transition is coming to life as the development of green technologies accelerates across the region. Securing critical minerals will be crucial to this process, and Australia should work with Southeast Asia to realize their mutual goals in this area.
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China-Based Chemical Manufacturing Companies Charged, Executives Arrested in Fentanyl Manufacturing
DOJ announced the arrest of two individuals and the unsealing of three indictments in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes related to fentanyl production, distribution, and sales resulting from precursor chemicals.
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To Pay or Not to Pay? Ransomware Attacks Are the New Kidnapping
Over the past several years, ransomware attacks have become a persistent national security threat. The inability to respond effectively to this challenge has normalized what should be intolerable: organized cybercriminals harbored by hostile states regularly disrupting and extorting businesses and essential services, causing misery in the process.
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U.S. Policymakers Acting to Bolster Drug Supply Chains Amid Critical Shortages
Alarmed by persistent shortages of critically important drugs such as cancer medications, Adderall, and antibiotics, U.S. policymakers are taking steps to shore up the country’s pharmaceutical supply chains. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists has more than 900 drug and dose shortages on its drug shortage list, and the FDA lists more than 200. The number and length of supply disruptions has grown over the last 10 years.
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Germany Reforms Immigration Law to Attract and Retain Skilled Workers
From healthcare to IT, carpenters to technicians, Germany’s “help wanted” sign is blinking red. Germany has two million jobs to fill, and it needs 400,000 foreign workers to make up the shortfall every year. When the baby boomers retire en masse, the problem will only get worse. Now Germany is reforming its immigration laws to help close the gap, and bring in, and keep, foreign talent.
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Rare Earth Elements in Turkey: Emerging Prospects
Turkey discovered the world’s second-largest deposit of rare earth elements (REEs) in 2022, with an estimated reserve size of 694 million tons, making it the world’s second largest REEs deposit after China’s reserves of 800 million tons. China accounts for 60 percent of the worldwide REEs mined production, 85 percent of the world’s REEs processing capacity, and 90 percent share of the manufacturing of high-strength rare earth permanent magnets.
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Scientific and Technological Flows Between the United States and China
What are the potential benefits and risks of U.S.-Chinese scientific research collaboration? What is the nature and volume of scientific researcher flows between the United States and China? What potential threats and benefits have emerged from the recent uptick in scientific collaboration between the United States and China on aerospace engineering research?
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As California Attempts a “Managed Retreat,” Coastal Homeowners Sue to Stay
“Managed retreat” is a climate adaptation policy that calls for relocating and removing coastal structures rather than protecting them where they are. Experts say managed retreat is an important last-resort option for adapting to climate change, but California’s early attempts to implement the policy have provoked a backlash from homeowners and politicians.
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The long view
Factories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield,Martin C. Feldmann writes, noting that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone age. Rectifying this situation “will take far more than procurement tweaks,” Feldmann writes. “It demands a national-level, wartime-scale industrial mobilization.”
Trump Is Fast-Tracking New Coal Mines — Even When They Don’t Make Economic Sense
In Appalachian Tennessee, mines shut down and couldn’t pay their debts. Now a new one is opening under the guise of an “energy emergency.”
Smaller Nuclear Reactors Spark Renewed Interest in a Once-Shunned Energy Source
In the past two years, half the states have taken action to promote nuclear power, from creating nuclear task forces to integrating nuclear into long-term energy plans.