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International Policy
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 »
In a bipartisan showing last week, more than a dozen U.S. senators called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to officially freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets following Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
While Hamas rules over the Gaza Strip, it is long had a close relationship with... Read More »
Following weekend attacks by Hamas that caught Israel off guard and launched a declaration of war, the United States reiterated its support for its traditional Middle East ally, as fears of escalation grew.
While Israel now claims its border with Gaza to be secure – three days after a Hamas... Read More »
With more than 300 proposed amendments in hand, the Working Group of Amendments to the IHR undertook a fifth round of discussions over International Health Regulations 2005 last week, setting up a path to a consolidated proposal and further discussions.
Proposed amendments considered by the... Read More »
A measure to demand sanctions on and prohibit nearly all economic interactions with blacklisted Chinese entities so targeted – the Chinese Military and Surveillance Company Sanctions Act of 2023 (H.R. 760) – advanced from the House Financial Services Committee last week.
Authored by U.S.... Read More »
Through introduction of the Science and Technology Agreement Enhanced Congressional Notification Act (H.R. 5245) last week, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) proposed new risk assessments, human rights considerations and enforced monitoring of any scientific and technological partnership agreements... Read More »
Mexico government officials recently hosted a U.S. delegation to reaffirm the nations' commitment to address fentanyl and arms trafficking, as well as humanely manage migration.
This month Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador joined senior Mexico government personnel in hosting a U.S.... Read More »
A Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) analysis maintains nuclear security conditions are regressing among the dozens of countries, as well as areas with weapons-usable nuclear materials and nuclear facilities.
“The bottom line is that the countries and areas with the greatest responsibility for... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) are advocating the Pentagon devise a plan to shrink the China missile gap and strengthen Indo-Pacific deterrence.
The Rings of Fire Act specifically outlines requirements for the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy no later than... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have outlined the implementation of new family reunification parole (FRP) processes for Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
“These new processes promote family unity and provide lawful pathways consistent with our laws and our... Read More »
A new connection announced between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) will spur development of a common language and registry of medical product regulatory information globally.
The... Read More »
Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced grants of $18 million for 11 university-based faculty teams researching the underlying social and political concepts that may drive future conflicts worldwide.
These 11 teams were chosen from approximately 130 applicants across six... Read More »
