ASP: In Case You Missed It…
26 February 2015
International News Coverage
Middle East, Terrorism and Counterterrorism
News Guide: Latest developments involving Islamic State group around the globe
Associated Press
From Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State militants abducted Christians and destroyed Mesopotamian relics, to arrests of suspects in New York and a Muslim group in Britain shedding light on the possible identity of a British-accented militant from IS beheading videos, the extremist group dominated the headlines on Thursday around the globe.
Air strikes hit Islamic State in Syria after Christians abducted
Oliver Holmes and Tom Perry / Reuters
A U.S.-led alliance launched air strikes against Islamic State on Thursday in an area of northeast Syria where the militants are now estimated to have abducted at least 220 Assyrian Christians this week, a group monitoring the war reported.
Europe
Ukrainian military pulls back heavy weaponry from eastern front
Alec Luhn / The Guardian
Kiev’s forces have begun pulling back heavy weapons from the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, marking a step forward for the troubled peace plan agreed in Minsk this month.
Greece bailout saga strains German patience
Ian Traynor / The Guardian
The German parliament is expected to agree to extend the eurozone’s bailout of Greece on Friday, capping a tumultuous first four weeks in office for the anti-austerity government in Athens. The next four months will be crueller yet.
Russia could cut off gas to Ukraine by ‘end of week’
Laura Mills / Associated Press
Russia could cut off supplies to neighboring Ukraine by the end of the week if it does not get further payments from the country, state-owned gas company Gazprom said Thursday.
German nurse jailed for life for murdering patients
BBC News
A former nurse who admitted killing more than 30 patients with lethal drug overdoses has been jailed for life by a court in northern Germany.
The Americas
Cyber threats expanding, new U.S. intelligence assessment says
Ken Dilanian / Associated Press
The U.S. has elevated its appraisal of the cyber threat from Russia, the U.S. intelligence chief said Thursday, as he delivered the annual assessment by intelligence agencies of the top dangers facing the country.
Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez case dismissed
BBC News
A federal judge in Argentina has dismissed a controversial case against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her foreign minister.
Africa
Nigeria’s Boko Haram crisis: Bombers hit Jos and Biu
BBC News
Two suicide bombers have killed at least 15 people at a bus station in north-eastern Nigeria, witnesses say.
Somalia’s al Shabaab say fire mortars at presidential palace
Feisal Omar / Reuters
Somalia’s al Shabaab militants said they carried out a mortar attack on the presidential palace in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Asia
China submarines outnumber U.S. fleet: U.S. admiral
Andrea Shalal / Reuters
China is building some “fairly amazing submarines” and now has more diesel- and nuclear-powered vessels than the United States, a top U.S. Navy admiral told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, although he said their quality was inferior.
North Korea reflagging ships to evade sanctions – UN
BBC News
A North Korea shipping company has been renaming and reflagging its vessels so it can evade an arms embargo, a UN report has said.
Energy Security, Science and Technology, Climate Change
Osborn: Fossil fuel divestment campaign has high costs, low returns
Lexi Osborn / Greeley Tribune
Radical climate activists’ latest campaign is a transparent ploy to boost its own power, not caring that it would harm more than help what it claims to protect.
Nearly all California voters think shortage is serious: poll
Reuters
Nearly all California voters believe the state’s water shortage is a serious problem, though they were split on whether environmental protection should be rolled back in response, according to a Field Poll released on Thursday.
U.S. regulators vote to set new, tougher net neutrality rules
Reuters
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted 3-2 along party lines, with Democrats in support, to set new so-called net neutrality rules that would regulate Internet service providers more like traditional telephone companies.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
The Long Final Leap Against Polio in Pakistan
Kennington Cung
On February 23, 2015, in Quetta, Pakistan over 400 teams of healthcare workers began an eight day campaign to inoculate of 478,000 children against polio. The men and women bring with them paperwork, information handouts, coolers containing the vaccines, and an extensive military security detail. With another four workers found murdered just ten day prior, bringing the death toll to eighty six, the heightened security is not only important for the safety of health workers but also crucial to keep the momentum to eradicate polio. Being a health worker in Pakistan and Afghanistan has become a deadly profession that has led to the increase of polio cases over the past few years in the region.
CVE—is about the choice we set
Paul Hamill
Today we have seen the arrest of three Americans plotting to commit terrorist acts here in the homeland and join Daesh/ ISIS. We also saw earlier this week three young women fly from the UK to Turkey, and now possibly enter Syria to do the same – and join Daesh.
Falsely Framed Debates about Our Options on Iran
BGen Stephen A. Cheney and Sungtae “Jacky” Park
The two actual alternatives that Washington must choose between are an Iran without nuclear weapons as a result of a deal or an Iran with nuclear weapons which could eventually emerge out of failed negotiations.
America’s Role in the Arctic: Opportunity and Security in the High North
Andrew Holland
Today, melting ice is opening the Arctic to economic exploitation. Inevitably, geopolitics has followed, with countries as far from the Arctic as China, India, and Singapore expressing interest in the region. Russia has significantly stepped up its military activity along their Arctic shore and in the Arctic Sea.
Eurozone Reaches Preliminary Deal With Greece
Hugo Grondel
After a week of tense negotiations, the finance ministers of the Eurozone have managed to carve out a preliminary deal with Greece. Previous attempts by Greece to renegotiate the terms of their bailout program failed last Monday.
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March 11 @ 9:30am – 10:00am
Well-informed congressional leaders are key to ensuring the national security of our nation. For that reason, American Security Project (ASP), is hosting a breakfast roundtable discussion on strategic approaches to national security issues from a nonpartisan perspective.
Discussion with Gov. Christine Todd Whitman: Climate Change Calls for Clean and Safe Energy
April 10 @ 10:00am – 11:00am
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ASP Recently Published
Global Natural Gas Pivot to Asia
American Security Project
Asia currently has two of the world’s three largest economies, and its energy needs to fuel these economies are continuing to grow. Energy suppliers are increasingly looking to exploit this market demand, trying to secure their market share in an economy with a long term demand. To this effect, energy suppliers are looking to how they can best fulfill the needs of the Asian energy markets.
Effective Measures for Tackling Climate Change — Divestment
American Security Project
This report focuses on how effective fossil fuel divestment campaigns in the United States would be in combating the effects of global climate change, as well as explore various solutions that aim to mitigate and eventually reverse the effects of our current accelerating climate change.
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