US embassy security chief killed in Yemen
Al Jazeera
Qassem Aqlani, the Yemeni chief of security at the US embassy in Sanaa, was shot and killed this morning in an attack that “resembles” other recent attacks directed against intelligence, military and security personnel.
NSA Director Pushes Cybersecurity Bill
Jen DiMascio/DefenseTech (originally in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report)
Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency and commander of US Cyber Command, has expressed fears that an executive order on cybersecurity will not provide the capabilities needed to secure critical infrastructure and liability protection for companies sharing information.
Russia no longer wants U.S. aid on nuclear-arms security
Will Englund/Washington Post
Russia has told the United States that it will not extend the Nunn-Lugar weapons reduction and security agreement after it expires at the end of May, saying it no longer needs to receive foreign aid and is concerned about leaks of nuclear security information.
Archives to recount JFK’s Cuban missile crisis
Brett Zongker/The Associated Press
Fifty years after the Cuban missile crisis, the National Archives has pulled together documents and secret White House recordings to show the public how President John F. Kennedy deliberated with advisers to avert nuclear war
Exploding Budgets
Joe Cirincione
The government is set to spend $640 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next ten years. If you didn’t know that, you are not alone. No one has put together a reliable estimate of these future budgets – until now.
Cambodia ‘threatens’ US-funded radio stations
Al Jazeera
Cambodia has threatened legal action against two US-funded radio stations, accusing them of favoring opposition parties and promoting US foreign policy. The Cambodian government complained about coverage of border demarcation issues with Vietnam and the October 1 jailing of a broadcaster and land rights campaigner for “secessionism.”
On Our Flashpoint Blog
A Nuclear-Armed Iran’s Impact on Oil Prices
Nicholas Cunningham
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) hosted an event on October 10 to launch its study on the economic ramifications of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons capability. The thrust of the report is that while a military strike to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program would be costly, inaction also has its costs.
Are China and Japan Just Saber-Rattling over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands?
Yong Wang
Didi Kirsten Tatlow’s blog post in the Herald Tribune’s Rendezvous blog captures the mounting nationalistic zeal and anti-Japanese tension in China. We shouldn’t be too shocked by this, though. Anti-Japanese rhetoric and actions are nothing new in China, the only difference this time is the scale.
