International Policy
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 »
The European Commission recently heard testimony from three European Supervisory Authorities (ESA) on the various problems regarding money laundering and terrorist financing affecting the European Union’s (EU) financial sector.
The groups, the European Banking Authority, the European... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) recently held a three-day exercise for cybercrime investigators to develop skills in combating real crimes in cyberspace.
The event, held Feb. 13-15 and hosted by the National Police Agency of Japan, saw participants from 10 countries... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced last week the Stop Terrorists Operational Resources and Money (STORM) Act of 2017, which seeks to provide the president additional leverage in penalizing foreign governments that fail to stop terrorist financing.
The bill was authored by Sens.... Read More »
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) appointed Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) to the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group (IPG) for the 115th Congress last week.
IPG is tasked with fostering dialogue between members of the United States’ and Mexican legislative bodies on issues of bilateral... Read More »
The United States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act, which aims to create a cybersecurity grant program for joint research and development initiatives between American and Israeli organizations, advanced the U.S House of Representatives earlier this week.
The bill was introduced... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. recently received approval by a regulatory agency under the German Federal Ministry of Health for its large-scale manufacturing facility in Michigan, paving the way for the company to market its anthrax vaccine BioThrax in Germany and other countries.
Emergent said its... Read More »
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday led the North Atlantic Council in formally opening the NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Regional Centre.
Stoltenberg highlighted the centre’s potential in strengthening the partnership between... Read More »
Ministers of the European Parliament (MEPs) recently voted to return to the European Union (EU) Commission a blacklist of countries that were determined to be at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, citing the list’s limited nature and a need to include territories that facilitate... Read More »
The Pakistani Centre for Excellence for Nuclear Security recently entered into a partnership with the International Network for Nuclear Security Training and Support Centres (NSSC Network) to build national capacity through training courses and strengthening technical and scientific support... Read More »
On the one year anniversary of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Iran had removed excess centrifuges and infrastructure from the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
“The JCPOA... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently implemented sanctions in response to findings that the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad used industrial chlorine as a weapon against its own people.
OFAC’s conclusions were based on a... Read More »
The European Commission recently adopted a series of measures to strengthen the European Union’s (EU) ability to combat the financing of terrorist organizations and organized crime, which were included in the Feb. 2016 Action Plan Against Terrorist Financing.
The initiatives presented by the... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently began a fact-finding mission in Syria in the wake of allegations that chemical weapons have been used in the area of Uqayribat in the Hama Governate in Syria.
The area in question has been linked to the control of the... Read More »
The U.S. Senate passed this week the Promoting Travel, Commerce and National Security Act of 2016. The bill will allow travelers to pass through U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspections prior to traveling to reduce overall wait times and aid in identifying individuals who represent a threat... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) recently held its 17th Global Programme on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crimes and Asset Recovery in Colombia, which focused on combating financial crimes associated with cocaine trafficking in Latin America.
The course drew more than 40... Read More »
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson hosted this week a coalition of Chinese government officials for the third U.S.-China High-level Joint Dialogue on Cybercrime and Related Issues to discuss a range of topics related to international cybercrime... Read More »
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch participated in the 2016 G6 Meeting of Interior Ministers in Rome, Italy on Oct. 20-21. They discussed security measures in Europe, migration flows, terrorism, cybersecurity and international border... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) recently conducted its Operational Response Project in Amman, Jordan, to identify best practices related to command and control, hazard risk assessment, and evidence exploitation.
The project brought together 45 Jordanian law enforcement... Read More »
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General Ahmet Üzümcü met with Finland’s Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H.E. Peter Stenlund at OPCW headquarters in The Hague on Friday to discuss aspects of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently held a training seminar for customs officials in Eastern Europe to strengthen their ability to uphold the global ban on chemical weapon.
The seminar, held in Krakow, Poland on Sept. 27-30, featured 32 participants from such... Read More »
The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) recently publicly indicated that the Russian government may be responsible for hacking the emails of U.S. persons and organizations to compromise election results.
USIC said that the trove of emails leaked to sites like WikiLeaks and DCLeaks.com was... Read More »
A coalition of leaders from law enforcement agencies, the private sector and academic institutions from across the world met in Singapore this week to address the growing threat of cyber crimes.
The meeting, titled “Solutions for Attribution,” saw approximately 200 participants from 56... Read More »
A coalition of Republican senators urged the president on Monday to enact immediate sanctions on North Korea in the wake of its latest nuclear weapons test.
This most recent incident was the fourth nuclear test since 2009 and the second this year.
“In the wake of this latest provocation... Read More »
Secretary General of INTERPOL Jürgen Stock recently spoke at a meeting of security ministers from countries in the Central African Police Chiefs Committee (CAPCCO).
Stock said that regional law enforcement cooperation is directly connected with security efforts across the continent and beyond.... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), along with the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS), is holding a one-day workshop entitled “Radiological Security: Increasing Transparency and Voluntary Reporting” this week in Berlin.
The workshop serves as a key component to continued progress... Read More »
