Countermeasures
While adding Paxlovid – nirmatrelvir and ritonavir – to its list of recommended treatments for mild and moderate COVID-19 patients at risk of hospital admission, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that lack of price transparency at Pfizer Inc. and testing demands before administration... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Ted W. Lieu (D-CA), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) led members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in urging the U.S. State Department to determine whether or not Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism.
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the... Read More »
Encouraged by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), more than 450 vetted security researchers and ethical hackers rooted through select external DHS systems and turned up 122 vulnerabilities, earning a cash prize for their efforts.
The first phase of the Hack DHS buck hunting program... Read More »
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is slated to evaluate a Biennial Radiological Emergency Preparedness Exercise, focusing on Pennsylvania and Maryland responses.
The assessment specifically involved communities around the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. The effort calls for FEMA... Read More »
President Joe Biden has forwarded to Congress his administration's first National Drug Control Strategy, which is an initiative focused on a whole-of-government approach to address the overdose epidemic.
“This Strategy goes after two big drivers of the opioid epidemic: untreated addiction and... Read More »
Chicago gained a satellite office for the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) last week, which the agency will use to identify new solutions, companies, and people in the Midwest capable of helping with national security challenges.
"The opening of this Defense... Read More »
The U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) celebrated the completion of the initial design and construction last week for a new ApiJect Technology Development Center that promises greater manufacturing capacity for prefilled injectors used to administer vaccines... Read More »
Engineering, construction, and project management firm Bechtel recently detailed the elimination of the last U.S. chemical weapon containing VX nerve agent.
The action was executed at the Bechtel-led Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) near Richmond, Kentucky, marking... Read More »
Rep. John Katko (R-NY) said the enactment of his Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act (H.R. 5681) expands support for Shadow Wolves officers performing critical duties and bolsters the southern border.
The Shadow Wolves, part of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, are a Native American tactical... Read More »
A global, Phase 3 trial of approximately 20,000 older adult volunteers for the Bavarian Nordic A/S MVA-BN RSV vaccine candidate began this week and is expected to produce results by mid-2023.
The randomized, double-blind test will gather those aged 60 years and older in both the United States... Read More »
A joint cybersecurity advisory was issued this week by a collection of various U.S. intelligence and security agencies, as well as international partners, providing a comprehensive overview of Russian state-sponsored and criminal cyber threats to critical infrastructure.
This focus on Russia... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently awarded $259,831,989 to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) to support S&T’s Counter-Unmanned System Threats (C-UST) efforts.
Amentum Services, Inc.,... Read More »
New clinical data from Moderna, Inc. this week showed that a month after using a bivalent COVID-19 booster candidate, mRNA-1273.211, superior vaccination efficacy was maintained against all variants of concern, including Beta, Delta, and Omicron.
These results stemmed from 50 µg booster doses,... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued recommendations to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding radiation portal monitor acquisition efforts.
The recommendations stem from DHS's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) replacing radiation portal... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this week the launch of the new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA).
The latest addition to the CDC umbrella will focus on improving U.S. capabilities to utilize data, models, and analytics for quicker decision-making... Read More »
In an effort to safeguard information on federal systems, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) introduced legislation this week promoting a transition of governmental IT systems to quantum-resistant cryptography.
The Quantum Cybersecurity Preparedness Act... Read More »
The National Security Agency (NSA) held its annual three-day NSA Cyber Exercise (NCX) earlier this month, gathering participants from various military academies, universities, and more to develop and test their cybersecurity skills.
While the U.S. Air Force Academy was crowned the winner of the... Read More »
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., recently partnered with the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Trucking Association to detect, deter and raise human trafficking awareness.
Operation Safe Passage is a high‐visibility... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) has forwarded correspondence to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Chris Magnus, advocating pre-pandemic operations resume at Montana ports of entry.
“We have made significant headway in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, yet most ports of entry in... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) recently introduced the Improving Federal Investigations of Organized Retail Crime Act (H.R. 7499), a bipartisan bill to improve how law enforcement handles organized retail crime.
According to a 2019 report by the Retail Industry Leaders Association and Buy Safe... Read More »
The U.S. Army has awarded science, technology, and engineering solutions firm KBR a $62 million, five-year recompete task order to provide conception-to-completion development, testing, engineering, and analysis services.
KBR would execute duties to aid the U.S. Army Program Executive Office... Read More »
Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans recently forwarded correspondence to Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL), requesting a hearing regarding the Biden administration’s decision to rescind the Title 42 Public Health Order.
The senators said that termination of the Title 42 order would likely result... Read More »
Utilizing its synthetic, CD8+ T cell Adaptive Vaccine platform, Emergex Vaccines Holding Ltd. began preclinical development last week of a new medical countermeasure against tularemia.
Tularemia is caused by francisella tularensis, an exceptionally virulent intracellular bacterial pathogen. The... Read More »
Due to discussions between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. over pre-exposure prophylactic use, the FDA will extend the review of a Biologics License Application (BLA) for REGEN-COV as a COVID-19 treatment for three months.
Regeneron seeks to use... Read More »
In the wake of continued fighting in Ukraine, U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are urging President Joe Biden to appoint a Ukraine Security Assistance Coordinator to aid support efforts.
“Even after their initial defeat,... Read More »
U.S. Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) joined 11 colleagues in forwarding correspondence last week to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seeking insight regarding recent southern border policy revisions.
The letter was sent to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,... Read More »
A new avenue of testing for COVID-19 opened last week, with emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer, a diagnostic capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection from breath samples.
In less than three minutes, the... Read More »
Citing concerns over record attempts to cross the United States-Mexico border illegally, 13 Republican senators wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the department’s changes to border security policies, processing, and enforcement.
Last year, U.S. Customs and Border... Read More »
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detailed a recent counterdrug collaboration between Air and Marine Operations (AMO), federal and international law enforcement partners yielding a $30 million Pacific cocaine seizure.
Authorities indicated an AMO National Air Security Operations MQ-9... Read More »
Hitting back at what once destroyed its historic forebear, Project Titanic – an initiative from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) – is under development to improve maritime safety and navigation in the North Atlantic Ocean through modern... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) announce plans to build a safe-by-design nuclear microreactor through the Project Pele initiative.
“Thanks to the tireless work of the contract teams, the valuable input from local stakeholders, and the talented and... Read More »
Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, led by Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL), wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines this week urging U.S. intelligence agencies to actively share helpful intelligence with their Ukrainian counterparts.
Meant to more... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced this week that it had successfully seized the online marketplace known as RaidForums and brought criminal charges against its founder and chief administrator, Diogo Santos Coelho of Portugal.
Coelho was arrested in the U.K. back in January at U.S.... Read More »
Northrop Grumman Corporation officials said the technology company has initiated construction on a new facility supporting Kirtland Air Force Base and military customers in Albuquerque, N.M.
The company said the 25,000-square-foot site is slated to open in early 2023 to support national security... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to President Joe Biden, advocating for the administration to provide Israel with the military capabilities needed to defend itself from Iran.
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) have joined nine Republican colleagues in... Read More »
