Countermeasures
Leaders of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube recently appeared before a Senate panel to highlight efforts to curb terrorist recruitment, to ban users with extremist ideology, and to remove “how-to manuals” and other terrorism-related content.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation... Read More »
Every member of the Florida congressional delegation signed a letter spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) seeking Defense Department (DOD) Secretary Jim Mattis’ support in making sure that a recent Department of Interior proposal does not impair military... Read More »
The directed energy weapons program, meant to upgrade the military with high energy laser and high powered microwave weapons technology, has received a commitment of support from a nominee within the Department of Defense.
Michael Griffin, nominated for Under Secretary of Defense for Research... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Hidalgo International Bridge, in two separate incidents recently seized approximately $356,000 of alleged cocaine and arrested an imposter attempting to enter the United States without valid entry documents.
“CBP... Read More »
A monkeypox outbreak in Nigeria probably originated from within the country recently highlighted the need for local surveillance and advanced genetic characterizations to help pinpoint the origins of outbreaks, a team of multinational researchers said.
From Sept. 4 to Dec. 9, 61 cases of... Read More »
Following two years of planning to ensure public safety at Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, the FBI recently hosted a preparation exercise with officers from every local, state and federal agency involved in security for the 10 days of planned events.
During the in-person exercise at the city’s... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recently called on senators to take a series of steps in reauthorizing the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) to ensure that states, local communities, and medical providers can protect against threats to public health.
IDSA’s... Read More »
A stratified biodefense hospital system would provide the United States with a protective shield in the event the country experiences a man-made or natural biological catastrophe, panelists told members of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.
The suggestion is one the panelists strongly... Read More »
A man with ties to Miami’s “cocaine cowboys” drug-smuggling era was arrested by federal and local officers in South Florida on Jan. 12 after spending four years on the run as a “high-risk fugitive.”
The U.S. Marshall Service for the Southern District of Florida Special Operations Group... Read More »
A 51-year-old Polish national, who has been imprisoned on terrorism charges in France since 2003, faces four counts in U.S. federal courts, including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, under a superseding indictment that was unsealed on Wednesday.
Christian Ganczarski is also charged with... Read More »
Agents of the U.S. Customers and Border Protection (CBP) service raided a cargo vessel at the Miami Seaport this week, confiscating $6.25 million worth of cocaine.
The 550 pounds of illegal narcotic were hidden in bags hidden behind metal tubing aboard the vessel. In all, those bags contained... Read More »
Researchers recently tested a millimeter wave imager designed to discreetly scan for potential threat items at the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s (MBTA) emergency training center in Boston.
In partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will soon have access to new resources to detect fentanyl and other synthetic opioids that are being trafficked into the United States under a bill that was signed into law last week.
Under the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response... Read More »
Seventy-five percent of those convicted of international terrorism or related charges in U.S. federal courts from 2001 to 2016 were born in foreign countries, according to a report released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday.
The report was... Read More »
Public health, when threatened not by Obamacare but by exposure to infectious diseases, natural disasters or chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) agents, is an area where members of Congress have been able to build bipartisanship.
Continuing such cross-party work will be... Read More »
InferLink Corp. will develop advanced search functionality for a cybersecurity research portal known as the Information Marketplace for Policy and Analysis of Cyber-risk and Trust (IMPACT) under a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contract awarded on Tuesday.
The $750,000 contract will be... Read More »
Though the discovery comes with some worrisome caveats, researchers have begun the journey to reversing the memory loss effects of West Nile virus through the use of a drug.
In a study focused on mice, scientists identified the potential cause of the neurological issues: unresolved inflammation... Read More »
A joint program launched by the FDA and Department of Defense (DoD) on Tuesday will prioritize the development of medical products that can help save the lives of military personnel.
Using expanded authorities granted under a provision of the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act,... Read More »
A panel of international policy experts told lawmakers Wednesday the best way to help rein in the nuclear ambitions of North Korea is through the intervention of the Chinese government, though none of the panelists expressed much optimism in Chinese assistance any time soon.
“I think getting... Read More »
In order to respond accordingly in the midst of large-scale biological events such as a terrorist attack or natural disaster, public and private organizations need to coordinate, but on Wednesday public health experts at a Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense meeting cited obstacles that highlight... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced legislation Tuesday designed to prevent foreign actors from interfering in U.S. elections.
The Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines (DETER) Act would implement measures such as sanctions and blocking... Read More »
Through genome analysis and chemogenetics, researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego School of Medicine, along with national and international associates, have confirmed genetic modifications that have led to malaria’s drug resistance and revealed new drug targets contained... Read More »
Participants in the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) recently gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the fifth plenary meeting of the initiative, marking the completion of Phase 1 of the IPNDV.
Representatives more than 25 countries both with and without... Read More »
Seventy-five years after the first controlled nuclear chain reaction, Ernest Moniz, co-chair and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), recently warned that the United States faces “a different nuclear age” with miscalculation, diplomatic tensions, terrorism, technological advancements and... Read More »
Regents of the University of Michigan (U-M) and the Duke University Hospital now share a distinction among infectious disease and antimicrobial experts with their recent designation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
The... Read More »
Duke University researchers recently conducted a study that showed how the Dengue virus reproduces in an infected individual without triggering the body’s normal defense mechanisms.
According to the study, the virus slowly takes over the endoplasmic reticulum, an accordion-shaped structure in... Read More »
The House of Representatives recently advanced 12 legislative proposals derived from recommendations from the Homeland Security Committee’s Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry to the United States final report.
The legislation included various initiating designed to prevent terrorists from... Read More »
In two law enforcement actions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recently seized more than $1.04 million in marijuana and crystal methamphetamine.
The first seizure occurred Jan. 9 at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge between Mexico and Laredo, Texas. A non-intrusive... Read More »
A five-year partnership agreement has been reached between the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), representing a $28 million investment in the fight against viral outbreaks.
DARPA’s Pandemic Protection Platform will be... Read More »
Sandia National Laboratories geophysicist Danny Bowman recently presented at the American Geophysical Union conference the results of an experiment in which he launched a fleet of five solar-powered balloons he built to detect the infrasound from a test explosion.
The results, which could have... Read More »
The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, applauded the complete destruction of Libya’s stockpile of Category 2 chemical materials at a ceremony held recently in Munster, Germany.
The remainder of the country’s... Read More »
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is focused on bolstering its efforts to stop cybercriminals and hackers, said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“Today, we live much of our lives online, and we're in a situation where just about everything that is important to us lives on the Internet.... Read More »
U.S. Sens Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) recently introduced the Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act of 2017, which seeks to modernize fire departments by requiring the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to provide GPS locators for crews fighting... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently announced that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has failed to verify some licenses for radiological shipments through U.S. airports.
Warning that such material as contained within these shipments could be used by terrorists to make... Read More »
National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists recently conducted a small clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center of an experimental treatment for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus infection in which the treatment was well tolerated by healthy volunteers.
SAB Biotherapeutics... Read More »
