International Policy
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) recently held an international counterterrorism meeting in Athens, Greece to discuss regional and global trends on foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and the threats they pose to their home countries.
The meeting was held under... Read More »
A 27-year old Virginia man, Mohamad Jamal Khweis, was convicted by a federal jury on Wednesday of providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court evidence,... Read More »
Speaking at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, IATA Director-General Alexandre de Juniac said cracks were beginning to show in the natural partnership on security between governments and airlines.
Specifically, de Juniac was... Read More »
At a commemoration ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), more than 40 participants gathered from 29 Asian States Parties to offer robust cooperation practices to implement provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
... Read More »
A training exercise designed to teach participants on the use of individual protective equipment, chemical containment, rescue operations, forensic techniques, and decontamination procedures was recently held in Buenos Aires, Argentina and hosted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical... Read More »
In the wake of reports that the Russian Federation interfered with recent elections in the United States and Europe, a Congressional delegation of members from the House Homeland Security Committee recently visited France, Poland, Estonia, and Ukraine to examine cybersecurity issues and discuss how... Read More »
In the wake of the international WannaCry ransomware attack, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) recently hosted a virtual conference with officials from affected countries to discuss mitigating actions to be taken.
The malicious software has reportedly infected more than... Read More »
Officials with the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently signed an agreement to establish a joint Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), which seeks to address new and evolving threats related to extremist financing.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said the... Read More »
The African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently activated its Emergency Operational Centre in response to the recently-declared Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in order to develop a concept of operations for the emergency.... Read More »
Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi recently visited the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to meet with OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü and discuss the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Üzümcü first... Read More »
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently released a report, which includes policy recommendations that would help align the United States and the European Union (EU), regarding frameworks, standards, and best practices for cybersecurity.
The report, titled Transatlantic Cybersecurity: Forging a... Read More »
A delegation of Namibian representatives recently visited the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to discuss various initiatives related to the full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The delegation included members of the... Read More »
Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, commander of the U.S. European Command, recently hosted a discussion with dozens of senior NATO Leaders and European chiefs of defense on how to counter the threat of violent extremism.
“This fight against terror and violent extremists will not be easy, nor... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Executive Council recently reconvened to further discuss allegations that the Syrian regime, led by President Bashar al-Assad, used chemical weapons on its own people in southern Idlib, Syria.
On April 4, a chemical weapons... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Executive Council convened last week to discuss allegations that the Syrian regime, led by Bashar al-Assad, conducted a chemical weapons attack on its own people.
On April 4, a chemical weapons attack occurred in the Khan... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, requesting communications related to a 2013 chemical weapons agreement by the Obama Administration, the Russian Federation, and the Syrian government.
The letter comes in... Read More »
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü recently addressed the 17th Regular Session of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), part of the Organization of American States (OAS), to discuss OPCW’s goals for the full... Read More »
A delegation from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently visited the Blue Grass Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility (CWDF) in Kentucky after receiving an invitation from U.S. officials.
The visit comes in the wake of a deadly chemical weapons attack in the... Read More »
Congressional leaders said they supported President Donald Trump’s authorization of a missile strike against Syria on Thursday in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians.
Trump authorized the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base suspected of... Read More »
A pair of U.S. House members recently called upon the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to continue its funding of key U.S.-Israel defense cooperation programs.
U.S. Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Grace Meng (D-NY) sent letters to both Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) and... Read More »
In response to recent reports of a chemical weapons attack in the Khan Shaykhun area of southern Idlib in Syria, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) condemned the reported use of chemical weapons and provided updates of its fact-finding mission in the country.
The... Read More »
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a new strategic plan last week to improve the prevention, surveillance, and emergency response to infectious diseases on the continent.
Prior to its approval, the plan was reviewed by Africa CDC experts, the advisory and... Read More »
U.S. Reps. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Jim Langevin (D-RI) recently participated in a panel at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference to discuss cybersecurity-related bills that recently passed through Congress.
Langevin and Ratcliffe began their discussion by detailing... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) recently held a three-day training course in Thailand, which discussed various ways law enforcement entities can identify individuals who use forged travel documents.
Participants included law enforcement officials, immigration agents,... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü recently paid an official visit to Singapore, where he gave the keynote address at the Singapore International Symposium on Protection Against Toxic Substances.
In his address, Üzümcü touched on... Read More »
Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee recently returned from a trip to the Middle East to examine the region’s anti-terrorism efforts and provide oversight of key intelligence programs.
Included in the delegation were U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), chairman of the... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) released a plan this week to introduce a bill that would re-list North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Cruz’s bill received cosponsors from U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis
(R-NC), Dean Heller (R-NV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inaugurated the new nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer at OPCW’s laboratory last week in Rijswijk, South Holland Province.
The ceremony was led by OPCW Director General Ahmet Üzümcü.
NMR is widely used in... Read More »
In response to recent missile launches by the North Korean government, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford held a 30-minute telemeeting with the Chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Sun Jin-Lee to assess the security situation for allies in the area.
On... Read More »
Secretary General of Interpol Jürgen Stock recently addressed the Chiefs of Police Conference of South Asia and Neighboring Countries, stating that regional and global police cooperation has never been more essential in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.
“In today’s world,... Read More »
The Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently adopted a decision to condemn the use of the Schedule 1 liquid nerve agent VX, which was used in a fatal incident last month at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The incident occurred on Feb.... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), in conjunction with the Council of Europe, recently launched a new initiative aimed at building capacity and enhancing cooperation amongst cybersecurity investigators around the world.
The Global action on Cybercrime extended (GLACY+)... Read More »
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) recently adopted a resolution urging the European Commission to take measures to temporarily reintroduce visa reciprocity for citizens of the United States and all states within the European Union (EU).
Currently, citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,... Read More »
Civil Liberties Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted for stronger entry protections and a shorter retention period for traveler data stored in the new European Union (EU) entry/exit system, which aims to modernize checks on non-EU nationals traveling to EU member countries.
The move... Read More »
Fifteen member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) took part in a training course last month aimed at preparing each member in handling emergency response to chemical incidents.
The course was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from Feb. 6-10 and was the fifth... Read More »
