South Korean President Warns North Against Nuclear Pursuits
Choe Sang-Hun/The New York Times
South Korea’s new president, Park Geun-hye, was sworn into office on Monday, facing far more complicated fissures both within South Korea and with North Korea than her father did during his Cold War dictatorship, which ended with his assassination 33 years ago.
Dennis Rodman brings basketball skills to North Korea
Jean H. Lee, AP/CTV News
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman brought his basketball skills and flamboyant style – neon-bleached hair, tattoos, nose studs and all – on Tuesday to the isolated Communist country with possibly the world’s drabbest dress code: North Korea.
Iran and big powers to trade offers at nuclear talks
Yeganeh Torbati and Justyna Pawlak/Reuters
Major powers on Tuesday offered Iran limited sanctions relief in return for a halt to the most controversial part of its nuclear program, and Iran promised to respond with a proposal on the same scale.
Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since November truce
Allyn Fisher-Ilan/Reuters
A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Israel on Tuesday, the first such attack since a November truce, and a militant group said it launched the strike to retaliate for the death of a Palestinian in an Israeli jail.
Taliban talks in Doha drag on endlessly
Ali M Latifi/Al Jazeera
Taliban representatives have been in Qatari capital for almost a year, but negotiations seem to be going nowhere.
Syria opposition agrees to attend Rome summit
Al Jazeera
Syrian National Coalition agrees to attend summit while Damascus says it is “ready for dialogue” even with armed rebels.
Kevin Bullis/MIT Technology Review
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy is highly popular, but its impact so far has been minuscule.
Inconclusive Italian elections roil European, Asian financial markets
Anthony Faiola/The Washington Post
Highly inconclusive Italian election results rekindled fears of more debt troubles in Europe on Tuesday, slamming stock markets and sending fresh jitters through global commodity and bond markets.
Kerry pushes trans-Atlantic free trade in Germany
David Rising/AP
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pushed Tuesday for a free-trade agreement between the United States and Europe, saying it is a priority for President Barack Obama’s second term that would help create jobs and growth on both sides of the Atlantic.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Sequestration – damage to American competitiveness
August Cole
Not only can sequestration weaken the military, it already threatens U.S. national security in a way that is not being talked about enough: damage to American competitiveness.
Event Review: National Security Experts Urge Action on Climate Change
Justin Yarros
At an event February 25th headed by James Woolsey, former CIA director, and Wayne Gilchrest, former Congressman (R-MD), climate change was addressed as an important national security problem facing America.
Brian Kastner and Magnus Newth
Read about the upcoming Iran negotiations, IAEA reports, North Korea, military drills and much more!
