International News Coverage

France

France hunts for 2 suspects; Nation mourns their victims
Lori Hinnant and Angela Charlton | Associated Press
Scattered gunfire and explosions shook France on Thursday as its frightened yet defiant citizens held a day of mourning for 12 people slain at a Paris newspaper. French police hunted two heavily armed brothers suspected in the massacre, fearing they might strike again.

French police converge on small town
John Irish and Anthony Paone | Reuters
French anti-terrorism police converged northeast of Paris after suspects behind an attack on a satirical newspaper were spotted in the region.

Two Brothers Suspected in Killings Were Known to French Intelligence Services
Andrew Higgins and Maia de la Baume | New York Times
The slaughter raised questions about how Chérif Kouachi, so well-known to the police for so many years, and Said, his brother, managed to conceal their intentions.

Fears of turning point for French politics after Charlie Hebdo attack
Angelique Chrisafis | The Guardian
François Hollande, ashen-faced and quick to the scene of France’s most violent attack in decades, appealed for national unity after what he called “an act of exceptional barbarism” when gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris offices of the country’s most famous satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo.

Middle East

Egypt announces parliament elections, vote to start March 21
Ashraf Sweilam | Associated Press
Egypt has scheduled long-awaited parliamentary elections. The vote will be staggered over seven weeks, starting March 21 and ending May 7.

Two suspected Syria jihadists go on trial in Berlin
Reuters Television and Hans-Edzard Busemann | Reuters
A 36-year-old German man and a 27-year-old Turkish citizen went on trial in Berlin on Thursday charged with membership of a foreign terror group in Syria.

Car Bombing Kills Dozens at Yemeni Police Academy
Shuaib Almosawa and Kareem Fahim | New York Times
A large car bomb exploded outside a police academy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, early Wednesday, killing or wounding dozens of applicants who were lined up at the building’s gate, according to security officials.

Asia

What’s still not known about AirAsia jet and why it crashed
Associated Press
AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people on board, halfway into a Dec. 28 flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. Dozens of bodies have been recovered, and search teams have detected what is believed to be the plane’s wreckage, but many questions remain unanswered.

Economic Security 

Building a global infrastructure for growth
Nathan Sheets, Under Secretary for International Affairs at the US Treasury | CNBC
Multilateral development banks, which provide direct financing to help developing countries and countries in transition meet their economic goals, have laid the foundation for sustainable growth and poverty reduction. They are the bedrock of today’s global development architecture.

Voting ‘Yes’ on Trade Is Hard for Democrats—but Necessary
Thomas McLarty | Wall Street Journal
Deals currently in negotiation will be good for the economy, good for workers and good for President Obama.

Climate Change, Science and Technology

Wintry weather around US brings fatalities, school closings
Dave Collings | Associated Press
Dangerously cold air has sent temperatures plummeting into the single digits around the U.S., with wind chills driving them even lower.

SpaceX rocket launch, and landing test, reset for Saturday
Irene Klotz | Reuters
Space Exploration Technologies will try again Saturday to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a cargo capsule for the International Space Station, then attempt to land the discarded booster on a platform in the ocean, officials said on Wednesday.

F.B.I. Says Little Doubt North Korea Hit Sony
Michael Schmidt, Nicole Perlroth, and Matthew Goldstein | New York Times
The F.B.I.’s director, James B. Comey, said on Wednesday that the United States had concluded that North Korea was behind the destructive attacks on Sony Pictures partly because the hackers failed to mask their location when they broke into the company’s servers.

On Our Flashpoint Blog

Threat of Disease could Rise with Climate Change
Philip Rossetti
As the prevalence of infectious diseases is likely to increase with rising temperatures, this will bring about a key change to the security environment and the threats that the U.S. will be dealing with in the future. 

President Obama Speaks at Auto Plant Idled by Low Gas Prices
Andrew Holland
For decades, it has been touted as Gospel that low gas prices are good for the American economy, high gas prices can ruin it, and the price of gas will affect elections. That is no longer the case.

What if it happens here? It’s not “if” – it’s “when”
Paul Hamill
We should be under no illusion, no matter how good our police, FBI, military, intelligence and other related security services are, they can never be 100% successful.

Energy Deal the Focus of President’s Trip to India
William George
The U.S. and India could work out a substantial deal on green energy this month when Obama visits New Delhi.

Why Cheap Oil can Help the U.S. Deal with Climate Change
Philip Rossetti
Cheaper fossil fuel creates less incentive for investment in alternative energy sources and increases reliance on high-emission fuels, but it also spurs economic growth and increases levels of international cooperation and communication.

Small Business Goes Global
Luke Lorenz
Not only has Ex-Im earned more than $2 billion beyond operating costs over the last five years, they can be credited as the single contributing factor that kept countless American small businesses competitive in a global marketplace.

Welcome to 21st Century Warfare
Dante Disparte
As the scale and sovereign culprit behind the attack on Sony were revealed, the world awakens to the specter of an uncomfortable new normal emerging in warfare – cyber terrorism.

Upcoming Events

Economic Diplomacy: How Economic Ties Can Strengthen National Security with Amb. Rivkin
January 15 @ 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Join ASP on January 15, 2015 as we welcome Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin for Economic Diplomacy: How Economic Ties Can Strengthen National Security.

Conference – Energy Security in the Caribbean: Unique Challenges
February 4 @ 12:00pm – 5:00pm
Join ASP as we host a conference on February 4, 2015, discussing the challenges facing the Caribbean in securing their energy future and how to move forward in the years to come.

 

The post What We Are Reading appeared first on American Security Project.