At a recent meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA), outgoing NGA Chair Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) provided an update to his year-long initiative on strengthening state cybersecurity defenses. Beginning in 2016, McAuliffe launched a project, titled Meet the Threat: … Read More
Nonprofit science and technology development company Battelle has a new head as of last week, following the appointment of Lewis Von Thaer as the company’s president and CEO. Von Thaer comes to the company from DynCorp International, where had had … Read More
In response to fiscal concerns raised by a number of sheriffs in Arizona, U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently introduced legislation that would reauthorize a program to reimburse state and local governments for incarcerating undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in … Read More
Fifteen analytical chemists representing Latin American and Caribbean member states to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), recently convened at the Laboratory for the Verification of Chemical Weapons (LAVEMA) in Madrid, Span for a two-week training course on the analysis of … Read More
The states of Kentucky and Arkansas recently announced that they will become the third and fourth states, respectively, to opt-in to the nationwide public safety broadband network currently being developed by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T. As … Read More
In the wake of reports that the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS) issued more than 20,000 green cards in error, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sent a letter to Acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director James McCament, requesting information … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents recently made a large seizure of cocaine after intercepting a fishing vessel along the Miami River. The incident began as CBP agents, along with one Border Patrol agent, boarded the vessel to process … Read More
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. said on Friday it plans to acquire Sanofi’s ACAM2000 business, the only vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for active immunization against smallpox, in an all-cash transaction totaling up to $125 million. ACAM2000 … Read More
Border Patrol agents stationed along Interstate 5 near San Clemente, California recently made a seizure approximately 58 pounds of illicit narcotics during a single traffic stop. The incident began as agents stopped a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox SUV driven by a … Read More
Prior to an international conference of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Secretary General Jürgen Stock emphasized the need for military successes to be translated into actionable intelligence for global police forces. The information of … Read More
Following reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have been working with inoperable radios and associated communications equipment, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) sent a letter to Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, asking if his department was doing … Read More
In response to the recent Senate introduction of the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, which would effectively repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund in FY2018, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) came out strongly against the legislation, … Read More
Gov. Matthew Mead (R-WY) recently announced that Wyoming will be the second state in America to opt-in to the nationwide public safety broadband network for first responders, which is being developed by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T. … Read More
Tulane University was recently awarded $12 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test a potential new drug treatment against the Lassa virus and to develop a vaccine candidate against the disease. The awards were issued through NIH’s … Read More
U.S. Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Greg Walden (R-OR) recently sent a public letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), regarding the Blue Ribbon Panel’s review of the 2014 smallpox virus incident on the NIH campus that called into … Read More
The Florida State Department of Health recently entered into a data use agreement and analytics agreement with the University of North Carolina (UNC) to officially join the National Collaborative for Bio-Preparedness (NCBP), a network which aims improve national preparedness for … Read More
A group of 24 first responders representing 15 Asian Member States to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) recently convened in Tehran, Iran for a training course on emergency assistance and protection against chemical weapons. The course, which was organized by … Read More
The number of passengers that will fly during the summer season is expected to surpass more than 2.5 million people per day, the highest number in years, according to recent estimates from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). According to the … Read More
Both Republican and Democrat members of the House appeared poised during a Wednesday hearing to reauthorize key FEMA programs providing matching grants for local firefighters, though the level of funding is still up in the air. Members of both parties … Read More
A bipartisan group of Congress members recently sent a public letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis urging him to direct military departments to incorporate cybersecurity education into the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) curricula for high school students. The … Read More
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) signed a letter this week, accepting the plan laid out by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T to build a wireless public safety broadband network throughout Virginia, making it the first state in the … Read More
The New Mexico Department of Health recently awarded a second contract to researchers from the New Mexico State University (NMSU) to expand a previous project map that shows the geographic distribution of mosquitoes that could potentially carry the Zika virus. … Read More
An outbreak of the acute viral hemorrhagic fever illness called Lassa fever has recently been reported by officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) in multiple West African nations including Nigeria. As of last month, a total of 501 suspected … Read More
Medical first responders engaged in emergent chemical incident simulations last month during a training course designed to educate first responders in emergency medical situations involving toxic chemical contamination held in Madrid, Spain and hosted by the Organization for the Prohibition … Read More
According to a recent update conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Department of Defense (DOD) has identified an infrastructure manager for the chemical and biological defense program (CBDP) and is in the process of developing the position’s … Read More
In response to a recently reported cyberattack that targeted the nation’s nuclear facilities, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released a statement condemning the attack while reiterating a previous call for a cybersecurity assessment by the Trump Administration. “The disturbing reports … Read More
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price recently appointed Brenda Fitzgerald as the 17th Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as the Administrator of the Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Fitzgerald … Read More
Representatives of customs agencies from member states to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) recently convened at the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to consider improvements to the CWC’s transfer regime during a three-day training … Read More
The United States recently entered into a customs mutual assistance agreement (CMAA) with Bolivia and Georgia, which fosters collaborative efforts in security and facilities trade between the U.S. and both nations. CMAAs work to provide the legal framework for the … Read More
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is set to host 10 hazardous materials response teams from Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Nebraska for the 21st annual Hazmat Challenge, pitting each team against one another in a series of graded, timed … Read More
A bill that establishes a grant program for military-civilian partnerships in trauma care to allow both the military and private citizens to benefit from each other’s expertise was recently advanced by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill, titled … Read More
Officials with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) recently named the 2016 winners of the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Award and the Nuclear and Missile Operations Award. The Nuclear Deterrence Operations Award is given to those who accomplish outstanding achievements in nuclear … Read More
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the most-recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has officially concluded after 42 days. According to WHO, the 42-day mark represents two incubation cycles of … Read More
Two amendments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2017 that aim to improve transparency and security of the nation’s airspace were recently approved by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Both amendments were authored by U.S. … Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stationed at ports of entry along the California border with Mexico recently seized more than 700 pounds of illicit narcotics, captured 13 fugitives from justice, and apprehended two would-be illegal undocumented immigrants over … Read More
