International News Coverage
Middle East, Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Yemen crisis: Houthi rebels announce takeover
BBC
Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebel movement has announced it is taking over the government and dissolving parliament.
Hadi affirms his presidential resignation final
Yemen News Agency / SABA
Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi affirmed on Sunday his full determination regarding his resignation from the presidency of the Republic according to the request he submitted to the Parliament on 22 January.
Qatar Tries to Mend Fences With Its Arab Neighbors
Jay Solomon / The Wall Street Journal
Qatar’s government is distancing itself publicly from Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas as the tiny Persian Gulf state seeks to mend relations with its Arab neighbors.
Yemen talks to resume as coup is condemned
Al-Jazeera
UN envoy says all political parties will attend talks on Monday, as Arab League brands the Houthi takeover a “coup.”
Syria says it doesn’t need Jordan’s help against IS
Ynet News
Syria’s foreign minister has criticized neighboring Jordan, which recently stepped up air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, saying his country does not need outside help in battling IS militants.
Jordan says its airstrikes are targeting Islamic State leadership
Taylor Luck and William Booth / The Washington Post
Jordan’s air force has carried out 56 airstrikes against Islamic State weapons depots and training camps in Syria and Iraq in the days since the extremist group revealed it had burned a Jordanian pilot to death, Jordanian military officials said Sunday.
Iraqi PM: Plans for Mosul offensive against Islamic State take shape
John Vandiver / Stars and Stripes
Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi on Saturday laid out a series of steps that must be taken ahead of launching an offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city,which was seized by Islamic State fighters last summer with little opposition.
US delivers $25m weapons to Lebanon for fight against Islamic extremists
The Guardian
The US ambassador to Lebanon said on Sunday that $25m-worth of weapons and ammunition had arrived in Beirut, the latest American assistance to Lebanon’s army as it fights Islamic extremists along the border with Syria.
Iran’s Khamenei says could accept fair nuclear compromise
Mehrdad Balali and Shadia Nasralla
Iran’s supreme leader said on Sunday he could accept a compromise in nuclear talks and gave his strongest defense yet of President Hassan Rouhani’s decision to negotiate with the West, a policy opposed by powerful hardliners at home.
Islamic State crisis: UAE sends F-16 squadron to Jordan
BBC
The United Arab Emirates has said it is sending F-16 fighters to Jordan to support the country’s airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants.
Report designates Tunisia the first ‘free’ Arab country in decades
Eric Reidy / Al-Monitor
Freedom House has ranked Tunisia as a “free” country, despite the political, economic and social challenges inherited from the dictatorship era.
Europe
Greece: Greenspan predicts exit from euro inevitable
BBC
The former head of the US central bank, Alan Greenspan, has predicted that Greece will have to leave the Eurozone.
EU delays sanctions by a week to support Ukraine peace talks
Adrian Croft and Robin Emmott / Reuters
The European Union delayed putting more Ukrainian separatists and Russians on its sanctions list on Monday to give a Franco-German peace plan for Ukraine time to work.
Merkel to meet Obama as arming Ukraine debated
Holly Yan and Matthew Chance / CNN
President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss the crisis Monday in Washington. Some U.S. officials are considering sending lethal aid to the Ukrainian military, but Merkel says that’s a bad idea.
Cyprus denies ‘Russia deal on military bases’
BBC
Cyprus has denied Russian media reports that it is ready to lease two military bases to Russia.
Donors planning Ukraine conference in April to raise at least $15 billion
Robin Emmott / Yahoo News
International donors are planning a conference in Kiev in April to raise at least $15 billion to help save Ukraine from bankruptcy and rebuild the country, a senior EU official said on Monday.
The Americas
Vox: Interview with President Obama
Vox
Africa
Nigeria to Delay Election by Six Weeks
Drew Hinshaw and Gbenga Akingbule / The Wall Street Journal
Postponement to Give Army Time to Quell Boko Haram
Boko Haram wounds Nigerien army general, loses 109 men
The News
An army general in Niger was among the 13 soldiers wounded as Boko Haram militants attempted to overrun two towns in the country on Friday.
Asia
President Xi of China to Make State Visit to Washington
Michael Forsythe / The New York Times
President Xi Jinping of China is set to make a state visit to the United States later this year, his first since becoming the top leader of Asia’s biggest economy.
Pakistan Wants ‘Battlefield’ Nukes to Use against Indian Troops
Zachary Keck / The National Interest
Pakistan is continuing to develop tactical nuclear weapons for use on the battlefield against India, a senior U.S. intelligence official said this week.
Senior Afghan militant with suspected IS links ‘killed in drone attack’
Mohammad Stanekzai / Reuters
A missile-firing drone killed at least six in Afghanistan on Monday including a veteran militant believed to have defected to Islamic State (IS) from the Taliban, Afghan officials said.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 and related issues
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
Interview: US-China cooperation stronger than ever before: fmr ambassador
Xue Ying and Tao Yuan / Xinhua
Former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke on Saturday expressed confidence in the future of U.S.-China relations, noting that bilateral cooperation is “stronger than ever before.”
Energy Security, Science and Technology, Climate Change
The Obama administration is cutting funds for a major ‘clean coal’ project
Chris Mooney / The Washington Post
“…the Department of Energy, which had planned to fund the FutureGen 2.0 project to the tune of $1 billion in stimulus funds and expended just over $200 million since 2010, will pull the plug, thanks to delays that had made the project unable to hit deadlines before it ran out of federal funding.”
OPEC Cuts Forecast for U.S. Oil-Supply Growth After 2014’s Price Collapse
Grant Smith / Bloomberg
OPEC made the deepest cut to its forecasts for 2015 global oil-supply growth since it first published them in August as U.S. producers lead a slowdown in drilling after last year’s price collapse.
If you think gas is cheap these days, look what it costs in Saudi Arabia
Kevin Sullivan / The Washington Post
In Saudi Arabia, the general response to the drop in global oil prices by half — from more than $100 a barrel six months ago to around $50 now — is a shrug.
US Cyber Command Has Just Half the Staff It Needs
Aliya Sternstein / Defense One
The Pentagon wants to fully staff its Cyber Command with 6,000 workers by the end of the year, but a highly competitive private market could mean it will have to wait.
DARPA: Cyberattacks against US military ‘dramatically increasing’
Kyle Balluck / The Hill
The head of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s software innovation division said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that cyberattacks against the U.S. military are increasing in frequency and sophistication.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
ASP Statement on Climate Change in 2015 National Security Strategy (NSS)
The American Security Project
“…the Obama Administration released its second official National Security Strategy (NSS), and for the first time it will list climate change as one of the top threats facing the US. While the Obama Administration has consistently placed emphasis on climate change as a significant threat to national security, this new NSS delves further into the research…”
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On Thursday, February 12th, the American Security Project, a nonpartisan think-tank, will publish a report on effective measures to tackle climate change. It will highlight the ineffectiveness of divestment as a way to fight climate change and call for a campaign that instead focuses on effective measures to reduce emissions. The report will explore effective solutions that would actually reverse the effects of accelerating changes in our climate.
Obama’s National Security Policy: A New Assessment
February 25 @ 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
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Discussion with Gov. Christine Todd Whitman: Climate Change Calls for Clean and Safe Energy
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ASP Recently Published
Libya: On the Brink
Giancarlo Lima
This report analyzes the recent events that have placed Libya on its current path. In order to understand events on the ground, this report includes a breakdown of key Libyan parties and figures as well as an examination of the economic and energy dimensions of the conflict. The report then concludes with a look forward for Libya and recommendations for the U.S. and international community.
U.S. Fusion Program Recommendations
Caroline Julia von Wurden and Andrew Holland
This report on fusion energy is informed by a roundtable discussion of fusion energy that was hosted by ASP on December 4, 2014. The report goes on to explain the potential benefits of fusion energy in the U.S. as a safe and clean source of power, but only if certain barriers to the implementation of this technology are overcome.
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