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International Policy
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against major Russian oil companies as it urged the Russian government to implement an immediate cease fire in Ukraine.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions would increase pressure on the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced it will purchase new icebreaker ships from Finland.
In a joint appearance with President Donald Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the deal is critical for protecting America’s interests in the Arctic.
Trump signed the deal with... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently sanctioned 12 Mexico-based companies and eight Mexican nationals affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction for supplying illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals to the cartel.
The U.S.... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently identified 17 people and 21 entities that were involved in networks that facilitate the acquisition of sensitive goods and technology for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. They also... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem this week signed an Enhanced Border Security Partnership with General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Minister of the Interior for Bahrain.
The agreement strengthens the relationship between the U.S. and Bahrain, officials said, and... Read More »
A new report from U.S. Reps. John Moolenar (R-MI) and Tim Walburg (R-MI) has found that partnerships between U.S. universities with institutes and academic partners in China may threaten national security.
Moolenaar, chair of the Select Committee on China, and Walburg, chair of the Committee on... Read More »
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) joined the National Security Agency (NSA), FBI and international partners, to release a joint cybersecurity advisory on malicious activity by Chinese threat actors.
According to the release, People’s Republic of China (PRC)... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed legislation that would require the State Department to create and carry out a strategy aimed at deterring foreign nations and non-governmental organizations from offering financial or material aid to the Taliban or other terrorist groups.
The No... Read More »
Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) voted to adopt the world’s first Pandemic Agreement, that boosts global collaboration as part of the response to future pandemics.
The agreement is the result of more than three years of intense negotiations, officials said, that came as a... Read More »
The Global Congress on Chemical Security and Emerging Threats released recommendations at its fifth plenary meeting last week to boost global action against chemical security threats. The meeting included 300 delegates from more than 100 countries and six international... Read More »
Member states of the World Health Organization recently forged a draft agreement to help make the world safer from pandemics.
The proposal, which will be considered at the upcoming World Health Assembly in May, aims to strengthen global collaboration on prevention, preparedness and response to... Read More »
Building off of landmark agreements signed in July, the governments of the United States, Canada and Finland signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to start work on developing world-class Arctic and polar icebreakers.
The MOU covers the exchange of knowledge, information and resources in... Read More »
A coalition of Republican senators is requesting the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of State to reverse American diplomatic policies toward the state of Qatar.
Citing Qatar’s hospitality toward Hamas and Hamas’ role in the killing of several U.S. citizens during the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recently signed a joint statement of intent for collaborative research, development and foreign technical exchanges.
Under... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, recently led a bipartisan delegation to the Middle East amid concerns about rising threats and instability.
The Congressional delegation of Cole and U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), John Rutherford (R-FL), Ed Case (D-HI),... Read More »
Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) successfully completed tests of several autonomous and networked systems during Autonomous Warrior 24, a three-week series of maritime experiments and exercises, in Australia.
"AUKUS partners have long histories of working together on... Read More »
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it had strengthened maritime cybersecurity through a partnership with its counterpart in Japan.
From Aug. 21-22, DHS and the Government of Japan conducted a tabletop exercise that simulated a major cyber incident impacting... Read More »
More than 100 public safety and military personnel participated in the 2024 “Ravens Challenge," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday.
“Ravens Challenge” is the world’s largest annual training exercise for public safety bomb squads and military explosive ordnance disposal teams. The... Read More »
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that the alleged leader of an international human smuggling ring responsible for bringing thousands of migrants into the country had been arrested in Mexico.
The defendant, Abdul Karim Conteh, 42, a Sierra Leone national, was... Read More »
On Thursday, NATO Allies announced they had reached an agreement to establish a new center that will address increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
The NATO Integrated Cyber Defence Centre (NICC) will augment the protection of NATO and Allied networks as well as the use of cyberspace as an... Read More »
The U.S. Commerce Department recently added 37 Chinese entities to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) trade restriction list, blacklisting them for a wide range of national security concerns.
The reasons ranged from support for the spy balloon that flew over the United States last year,... Read More »
This week, a collection of Republican and Democratic legislators introduced a bill to sanction any Chinese military firm supporting Russia.
In the NO LIMITS ACT, U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), John Moolenaar (R-MI), and Jared Golden (D-ME) proposed blanket sanctions for... Read More »
A bipartisan group of senators recently introduced the American Economic Independence Act, which would require the president to provide Congress with a comprehensive threat assessment of integrating economically with China.
It would focus on numerous sectors, demanding analysis of both current... Read More »
Looking to better align approaches to cyber incidents on both sides of the Atlantic, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications, Networks, Content, and Technology (DG CONNECT) recently launched a new comparison... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that, together with the United Kingdom, it had successfully disrupted the LockBit ransomware group, seizing its infrastructure and developing decryption capabilities for its software.
The group has reportedly targeted more than 2,000... Read More »
Pushing to counter Chinese dominance of critical minerals, a bipartisan group of senators recently introduced the Critical Minerals Security Act to shore up what they saw as information gaps, evaluate the global supply chain and pull domestic industry away from Chinese industry.
The Critical... Read More »
Although marijuana is becoming increasingly legal state-by-state across the country, House chairs related to homeland security called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently to discuss Chinese-operated farms.
These elicit farms, their... Read More »
In a letter to President Joe Biden at the beginning of this year, senators and representatives from Massachusetts called on President Joe Biden to strike Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism List, in a rebuke of Trump-era decisions.
While President Barack Obama removed Cuba from that list... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), together with seven Republican colleagues, reintroduced the Iran China Accountability Act this week in a push to weaken Iran’s relationship with communist China and ensure that the United States not move forward with any nuclear agreement without congressional... Read More »
Led by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a group of 25 Republican senators wrote to secretaries within the Biden administration and pressed them for answers to the lack of a unified strategy on Iran, the country’s long-time adversary in the Middle East.
Particularly grating to the lawmakers was the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently released joint guidelines for secure AI system development.
These guidelines were targeted at developers of any systems that use... Read More »
Seeking to halt aerial development, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), echoed by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in the House, introduced the No ICBMS or Drones for Iran Act last week, brandishing the legislative threat of additional sanctions for the long-time American adversary.
The bill was... Read More »
In a letter to the United Nations, several United States senators this week pressed for the international body to designate the Hamas organization of Palestine as a terrorist organization following terrorist attacks on Israel in October that left hundreds dead, others kidnapped, and kicked off a... Read More »
The U.S. Secret Service and the Australian Federal Police signed a memorandum of understanding last week creating a new basis for interagency and international collaboration and information sharing on transnational crime.
“The Secret Service is honored to join our partners at the Australian... Read More »
With the war between Hamas and Israel dragging attention on Iran once more to the fore, U.S. Reps. French Hill (R-AR) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) reintroduced the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act this week, seeking new means to crackdown on their financial support.
“The Iranian regime has... Read More »
